Genesis Triad
by spiralgamer
Summary: Reboot of Genesis Triad. Three young Trainers begin their Pokémon journeys, but a malevolent group who call themselves Team Phantom. Join these Trainers as they make their way through the Kalos region. Rated T for violence later on.
1. I Choose You!

**For those of you who waited for me to rewrite this story, you finally have it! Genesis Triad has returned! Like before, it will focus on my OC characters Spiral, Kimiko and Xifeng travelling across the Kalos region. The difference is that Team Flare won't be involved at all; the villains will be a completely different team with completely different motivations. There will also be a couple of characters a friend of mine wanted in that I'll introduce later in the story. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

It was very late at night and in a home in Vaniville Town, a young boy was in his bedroom, watching a recording of a battle from many years ago. The recording was of a young girl with flowing blue hair and a white kimono-style dress with a Ninetales at her command as her opponent was calling out their last Pokémon, a large Dragonite, inside a stadium filled to the brim with spectators. The girl recalled her Ninetales and threw out another Poké Ball in its place. Out of that new Poké Ball came out a Froslass and it summoned forth a blizzard that caused it to disappear.

Back in the real world, the boy watched the video while lying on his belly on his bed with an excited look on his face. He had grown-out, somewhat spiky violet hair and was wearing a blue T-shirt and white cargo shorts. His name is **Spiral Yuki** (Age 10), a soon-to-be Pokémon Trainer ready to journey out into the world.

Out of nowhere, he felt a deep chill on his cheeks which caused him to leap off of his bed and exclaim loudly.

"AH!"

Spiral heard a light giggling and saw a Froslass floating over his bed. The door to his room opened and entered a Ninetales and a woman with pale skin, long, flowing blue hair and wearing a white kimono, much like the girl in the video the boy was watching. This was Spiral's mother, **Yukimaru** (Age 30).

"Spiral, tomorrow's a big day." She gave a nonchalant smile. "You need to go to bed right now."

"All right, Mom." Spiral got up and back onto his bed.

"Have you decided on your starter Pokémon?" Yukimaru asked.

"Yep." Spiral nodded.

"Then you should focus on getting a good night's rest."

As Spiral got underneath his covers, Yukimaru picked up the television remote and was about to turn off the video until it reached a part in which the Froslass was standing over a fallen Dragonite and the cheers of the audience overwhelmed the audio feed. Yukimaru smiled as she was welling up with feelings of nostalgia before turning back to her son.

"You were an amazing Trainer, Mom." Spiral said.

"I still am, you know?" Yukimaru said.

"I can't wait until tomorrow! I've been dreaming of this day since I first saw you battle!"

"Listen, if you ever change your mind, don't hesitate to come back home."

"Why would I change my mind?"

"Just…" Yukimaru hesitated to answer. "… Just something to keep in mind…" She kissed her son's forehead and was about to leave the room with her Pokémon. "Good night, Spiral."

"Good night, Mom."

Yukimaru flipped the light switch, turning the lights off, and closed the door. Spiral tried his best to go to sleep, but his excitement for the following day made it rather restless until much later.

* * *

The next morning when Spiral got up, he changed his clothes and left without packing or eating breakfast since he wanted to get to Aquacorde Town early and figured he could come back home later to deal with those tasks. He was wearing a green T-shirt under a blue and black jacket, blue jeans and white and red tennis shoes as he made his way from home and through Vaniville Pathway. He eventually reached Aquacorde Town and went to the town's center and sat on a bench, eager for obtaining his first Pokémon. After almost an hour of waiting, he stood up upon seeing a middle-aged man in a lab coat with a briefcase approach the fountain and ran up to him.

"Excuse me, are you Professor Sycamore?" Spiral asked.

"Hm?" The man stopped in his tracks. "Yes, I'm the professor. Are you one of the new Trainers I'm supposed to meet today? If so, you're awfully early."

"Wait, 'Trainers'?" Spiral emphasized the 's'.

"Yes, there are also two young ladies coming here today to choose their first Pokémon. You must be the sole boy I'm meeting, Spiral Yuki, correct?"

Spiral nodded with his eyes glistening like stars. "When can we start?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to wait until the other two arrive."

"Aaaaaaaawwww…" Spiral drooped in disappointment.

"Um, excuse me?" A soft, shy voice spoke.

Spiral and Prof. Sycamore looked toward the voice and saw a young girl about the same age as Spiral standing by them. She had long, flowing black hair and wore a pink kimono-like shirt with white pants and red shoes.

"I'm…" The girl was squirming in place with her eyes darting about in all directions. "I'm here for my beginner Pokémon. M-my name is **Kimiko Kage** (Age 10)."

"Ah, right on time." Prof. Sycamore said. "Now we just have to wait for the other girl."

It had been fifteen minutes since Kimiko had arrived and the last Trainer had yet to show up. Spiral was sitting on the bench, restlessly moving his legs.

*What's taking her so long?!* Spiral thought. *I want my Pokémon now! I'd ask if we can just start without her, but that would be selfish of me.*

Spiral looked around to see Professor Sycamore checking his watch and scratching the back of his head and Kimiko standing around patiently.

*How is she not bothered by any of this?* Spiral continued thinking. *We're being held up and she's not the least bit-*

Suddenly, the sound of a large splash behind Spiral caught everyone's attention and their attention was immediately drawn to the fountain. Getting up out of the fountain water was another young girl with dark brown hair tied in double ox buns, dressed in a red cheongsam and black pants with black slip-on shoes. She took a massive deep breath and was panting heavily.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" The girl shouted loudly. "I completely lost track of time!" She stepped out of the fountain, her clothes and hair drenched in water. "You didn't start already, did you?"

"You must be the third Trainer, **Xifeng Long** (Age 10). And now that you're here, we can finally begin." Prof. Sycamore responded before opening the briefcase he was carrying, took three Poké Balls out of it and threw them into the air.

All three Poké Balls opened and let out three small Pokémon that sat or stood on the edge of the fountain; from left to right they were a hedgehog, a fox and a frog.

"You each will select among these three Pokémon." Prof. Sycamore said. "The Grass-type, Chespin…"

"Chepin!" The green hedgehog-like Pokémon cheered happily.

"The Fire-type, Fennekin…"

"Fenne!" The yellow and red fox Pokémon yipped.

"And the Water-type, Froakie."

"Froa!" The frog Pokémon croaked.

"Spiral, since you got here the earliest, you can choose first." Sycamore said.

"Yes!" Spiral shot up and walked over to the three Pokémon. "I already know who I'm gonna choose!"

Kimiko watched in anticipation while Xifeng slammed her eyes shut and crossed her fingers, hoping he wouldn't choose who she was going to pick.

"I choose…" Spiral said before he picked up one of the Pokémon. "Fennekin!"

"Kin!" Fennekin barked happily and wagged its tail.

Xifeng sighed in relief and relaxed.

"All right, Kimiko, you're next." Sycamore said.

Xifeng went back to closing her eyes and crossing her fingers.

"O-okay…" Kimiko said as she walked over to the two remaining Pokémon. She looked at them for several seconds before making her decision. "I'll choose… Froakie."

"Froakie!" The Froakie leaped onto Kimiko's shoulder.

"Phew, thank goodness…" Xifeng could finally relax again.

"Sounds to me like you really wanted Chespin, Xifeng." Sycamore said.

"Of course I do!" Xifeng said before practically jumping over to Chespin, picking it up and holding it in her arms. "It's my dream to become a Fighting-type master, which makes Chespin my only choice!"

"Oh yeah, when Chespin fully evolves, it becomes a Fighting-type." Spiral stated. "So you're planning to go all around Kalos, beat the Gyms and enter the Kalos League?"

"That's the plan!" Xifeng said.

"Then I'll meet you there." Spiral smiled.

"S-so, you're all entering the Kalos League, too?" Kimiko shyly asked.

"Guess that makes three of us." Spiral said.

"Before you all head out, take these." Sycamore handed each of the new Trainers six Poké Balls, which included those of their starter, and a Pokédex. "Your Pokédex and Poké Balls. These will both be useful in documenting any Pokémon you see or catch for you as well as my research. Any time you want to see me, I'll be at my lab in Lumiose City."

"Thanks, Professor!" Spiral said as he accepted the Pokédex and Poké Balls.

"May you all have a wonderful journey." The professor said to them.

* * *

Spiral immediately went back home with his new Fennekin in his arms.

"SPIRAL!"

His mother's voice loudly shouted the moment he opened the door. She came up to the entrance and didn't look happy one bit.

"I told you that you left too early!" Yukimaru scolded him. "And you skipped breakfast for nothing!"

"Sorry, Mom, but I at least got to choose my Pokémon first." Spiral said as he held Fennekin.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin yipped.

"Aw, how cute!" Her demeanor completely changed for an instant. "You can start packing for your journey AFTER you eat your breakfast."

"Okay, Mom." Spiral went inside his house.

* * *

After eating breakfast, Spiral packed everything he would need for his journey in a duffle bag, clung his Poké Balls to his belt, placed his Pokédex in his right pocket and his wallet in his left and took one long last look at his bedroom.

"I won't be sleeping in my bed for a while…" He muttered to himself. "I'm going to miss it…"

Fennekin jumped onto Spiral's shoulder. "Fen?"

"If you still want to just stay home, you can."

Spiral turned around and saw his mother standing by the door with her Froslass and Ninetales.

"I know… But I won't be able to become a Pokémon Trainer like you." Spiral said.

"Remember what I told you about my first Pokémon?" Yukimaru asked.

"How could I not?" Spiral replied. "You said you were born in Snowpoint City all the way in the Sinnoh region and your first Pokémon was a Snorunt."

Yukimaru then frowned. "That Snorunt… was my only family."

"Huh?"

"I was an orphan, and I was completely ignored by everyone in town… One day, I tried leaving for another town and got myself caught in a terrible blizzard. The extreme cold was getting to me and I was beginning to lose consciousness… Until I was greeted by a Snorunt that lead me to a cave before I passed out. It even went so far as to make a fire. An Ice-type was willing to expose itself to fire just to save my life. Ever since then, I've been grateful to Snorunt and we set out on our journey together." She petted her Froslass's head. "I'm sorry I never told you the whole story, but I wanted to tell you just so you know how lucky you are to have me as your mother. And how much it saddens me that you're growing up like this."

Yukimaru began tearing up.

"D… Don't cry, Mom." Spiral came up and hugged Yukimaru.

"I…" She started sobbing and hugging him back very tightly. "I just… love you… so much…"

"And I love you, too, Mom."

Yukimaru managed to keep her tears from getting out and looked at Fennekin.

"Promise me you'll keep Spiral safe, okay, Fennekin?" Yukimaru requested.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin nodded.

* * *

Spiral and Fennekin were already at the edge of Aquacorde Town, in the direction of Santalune Forest. Spiral looked toward Fenneking, who was sitting on his shoulder again.

"Are you ready, Fennekin?" Spiral asked.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin happily and confidently yipped in response.

"Then let's go!" Spiral ran off toward Santalune Forest, his journey about to start.

* * *

 **A/N:** End of the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	2. Dreams

**Wow! I didn't expect to get so few views, but then again I only put one chapter and much of the hype right now is going towards** _ **Sun**_ **and** _ **Moon**_ **, so I don't blame you. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Spiral was walking down the path with new friend Fennekin sitting on his shoulder when he heard some loud noises coming from nearby.

"Wonder what that is…" Spiral muttered before turning to Fennekin. "Wanna check it out, Fennekin?"

"Fenne." Fennekin nodded.

As they followed the sounds, they came across several beaten and unconscious Pokémon.

"I didn't think something so dangerous hung around Avance Trail." Spiral said. "Victory Road's near Santalune City, so maybe a strong Pokémon migrated all the way from there."

Spiral continued walking until he came to a clearing and saw Xifeng and her Chespin sitting on the grass and eating steamed pork buns. In between bites, she saw Spiral and Fennekin.

"Hey, you're that boy from earlier." Xifeng said while holding out her half-eaten pork bun. "Pork bun?"

"There's a ridiculously strong Pokémon on the loose and you're having a picnic?" Spiral questioned as he walked up to her.

"Really, where?!" Xifeng shot up and searched around.

"Whatever it was, it was beating up a lot of the Pokémon around here."

Chespin froze in place just before it could take another bite of his pork bun.

"Chespin and I can take it on!" Xifeng said excitedly. "We've been training ever since we got here and sparring with all the wild Pokémon around here."

"Did you catch any?" Spiral asked.

"Nope, they weren't or wouldn't become Fighting-types, so we just challenged them for the experience." Xifeng answered.

Chespin began tugging at Xifeng's pants.

"What is it, Chespin?" Xifeng asked.

"Che chepin!" Chespin pointed its paw at him and Xifeng. "Cheeeeee!" He then pretended to be a big, scary monster.

"… Hm?" Xifeng hummed.

"Pin…" Chespin slumped in dejection.

Fennekin jumped down from Spiral's shoulder and walked up to Chespin.

"Fen fennekin?" Fennekin tilted his head.

"Chepin." Chespin nodded.

"We should keep our guard up just in-" Spiral was about to say.

"Fenne!" Fennekin yipped to get Spiral and Xifeng's attention. He then pointed to Chespin doing his scary monster act again.

"… Xifeng?" Spiral asked. "You said you and Chespin were fighting with other Pokémon here, right?"

"Yeah?" Xifeng responded.

"Then that dangerous Pokémon I thought was around is probably Chespin."

Xifeng blinked a couple of times. "… Huh?"

* * *

Several minutes later, the four of them were sitting on the grass and eating.

"Now I feel silly!" Xifeng laughed. "I bet we made your job of catching Pokémon a lot easier, yeah?"

"There's no sport in catching a Pokémon you didn't weaken yourself." Spiral said.

"A fellow honorable soul." Xifeng smiled widely. "I like you already. Have you battled any other Trainers yet?"

"No, you're the first one I've come across all day."

"Then how about a battle? Sparring with wild Pokémon isn't the same as with other Trainers."

"Heck, yeah!" Spiral stood up do fast hat it seemed like an instant.

Spiral and Fennnekin and Xifeng and Chespin stood across from each other, their Pokémon taking stands in front of their respective Trainers.

"… Ready?" Spiral asked.

"Let's go!" Xifeng shouted. "Chespin, Tackle!"

Chespin charged at Fennekin and bashed into the fox Pokémon with its head.

"Fennekin, Tail Whip!" Spiral ordered.

Just as he was keeling back, Fennekin slapped his tail against Chespin, knocking it off balance for a moment.

"Now Scratch!"

Fennekin's paws glimmered at the tips and he swiped them across Chespin's face.

"Chespin, counter with Vine Whip!"

Two vines popped out of each of Chespin's shoulders, one first trying to whack at Fennekin while the other one wrapped around him and lifted him up.

"Now for the smack down!" Xifeng told Chespin.

Chespin used the vine to hurl Fenneking toward the ground.

"Use Ember on the vines!" Spiral commanded.

Fennekin turned toward the vines and blew hot embers from his mouth that singed them, forcing Chespin to retract them and release Fennekin, who managed to land on his feet.

"Tackle again!"

Chespin charged at Fennekin again and Spiral waited for the hedgehog Pokémon to get closer before giving him a command.

"Ember! Now!"

Fennekin spewed cinders at Chespin, who got completely engulfed in the fiery attack.

"Follow it up with Scratch!"

While Chespin was still trying to recover from the Fire-type attack, Fennekin swiped at him with his sharpened paws again and sent the hedgehog Pokémon flying back towards Xifeng.

"Chespin!" Xifeng ran over to her Pokémon to see that it no longer had the will to fight. "Guess we lost this one, huh?" She picked up Chespin and held him in her arms. "Are you sure that was your first fight? Chespin and I've been doing nothing but training all day."

"I watch a lot of Pokémon battles on TV." Spiral stated as he knelt down to Fennekin and petted his head. "And read a lot of books on type advantages… I… never hung out with the other kids. Only Pokémon. I just wanted to study so I could become an awesome Trainer like my mother."

"Who's your mom?" Xifeng asked.

"Yukimaru."

Xifeng stared at Spiral blankly and blinked a few times. "… Yukimaru? As in THE Yukimaru?!"

"Mmhm." Spiral nodded.

"I didn't know she had a kid!"

"Yeah…" Spiral chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "It's not something she's keen on everyone knowing."

"No wonder you're so good!" Xifeng smiled.

"Mom might have inspired me, but MY battles result from MY skills. So, what made you want to be a Fighting-type Trainer?"

"I've just really always liked Fighting-type Pokémon… But watching wrestling matches and kung fu movies might have had something to do with it, too." She smiled casually.

"'Might'?" Spiral quietly questioned.

"Hey, if you're here, then shouldn't that meek girl from earlier be around here, too?"

They heard an explosion come from the forest and a Fletchling was knocked to the ground near them. A Poké Ball was thrown at it and it went inside. After a few wiggles of the Poké Ball, it stopped moving around and Kimiko and her Froakie approached it to pick it up.

"We caught our first Pokémon, Froakie!" Kimiko turned to the frog Pokémon and smiled.

"Froa-kie!" Froakie croaked happily.

"Hey! Uh-What was your name again?!" Xifeng called out to the other girl.

Kimiko looked toward the two young Trainers and began panicking.

"O-o-oh! I'm s-s-s-s-so sorr-rry!" Kimiko stammered and repeatedly bowed. "I-I di-didn't kn-know you were here-re!"

"What are you scared of?!" Xifeng laughed. "We aren't going to bite!" She sat back down on her picnic blanket and patted down a spot next to her.

Kimiko was reluctant to sit, her Froakie looking back and forth between its Trainer and the spot. Eventually, Froakie hopped over to Xifeng, sat down near her and patted the spot to signal Kimiko to come over.

"Froakie." The frog Pokémon called out to Kimiko.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Kimiko began to slowly walk toward the picnic blanket and finally sat down on her legs, Froakie hopping onto her lap. Spiral picked up Fennekin in his arms and took a seat next to Kimiko. Kimiko just looked down at her Pokémon as if she was trying to avoid eye contact with her fellow Trainers.

"So, Kimiko, what made you want to be a Pokémon Trainer?" Spiral asked.

"Uh-uh-I-uh-" Kimiko tried to look Spiral in the face, but the moment she did, she immediately looked back down with a bright blush on her face. "I-I-I-I-I-I-!"

Spiral and Xifeng did nothing but stare at the nervous wreck, unsure of what to do or say. Fennekin and Chespin looked at Kimiko for a moment and then at Froakie, who was still completely calm. Froakie turned his head around a little bit and squirted some water from his mouth at Kimiko's face. She finally stopped stammering and calmed down, her eyes still closed from her wet face.

"I'm s-sorry…" Kimiko said. "Thank you, Froakie."

"Froa." Froakie responded to Kimiko.

"Why'd you flip out like that?" Xifeng inquired.

"Thi… This is my first time outside of home." Kimiko stated. "I have never spoken to anyone aside from my family."

"You sound like one of those sheltered rich girls." Xifeng said.

"Wait, what was your last name again?" Spiral asked. "I didn't catch it this morning." He then thought to himself. *I didn't even listen to her first name, I was so focused on getting my new Pokémon.*

"My last name… is Kage." Kimiko answered.

"'Kage'…" Xifeng parroted. "Isn't that the family of really strong Pokémon Trainers? All of them making first place in every league they enter?"

Kimiko nodded. "I'm the next in line, and my parents sent me here to Kalos to collect all of the Gym Badges and win the Kalos League."

"You're not from Kalos?" Spiral asked.

"I actually come from Johto." Kimiko said.

"That's pretty far." Xifeng said. "Why didn't your parents just have you enter the Johto League?"

"No one in my family has won the Kalos League, so I'm expected to win." Kimiko clarified. "They have been making me study Pokémon for as long as I can remember to prepare me for this journey."

"What do you know?" Spiral smiled. "I've been studying Pokémon my whole life so to prepare for my journey, too!"

Kimiko looked at Spiral, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Anyway, how about a battle to test your skills?" Xifeng asked.

"Ches-Pin!" Chespin quickly objected to Xifeng's request as it was still recovering from its previous battle.

"I'm s-sorry, but Froakie's a bit tired after battling that Fletchling I just caught." Kimiko replied. "Maybe next time."

* * *

After the three Trainers parted ways, Spiral was walking on the path to Santalune Forest with Fennekin taking a nap in his duffle bag and dreaming.

 _(Dream)_

 _Fennekin was watching a battle between a Delphox, owned by a female Trainer with brown hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a fiery red jacket over an orange shirt with a black sun design on the front and black jeans. She appeared to be somewhere in her late teens or early twenties. The two were fighting a Metagross._

" _Delphox, Mystical Fire!" The female Trainer ordered._

 _The Delphox twirled its wand and bright flames spewed from the tip and engulfed the Metagross. Fennekin looked at the attack in awe and stared at the Delphox. When the battle was over, the Delphox and its Trainer walked over to Fennekin and he skipped over to them._

" _Fennekin!" Fennekin yipped._

" _You like watching Mommy and I battle, huh?" The Trainer asked as she petted Fennekin's head._

 _Fennekin nodded._

" _When you're older, you can start battling." The Trainer said. "And maybe you'll become as strong as Mommy someday."_

 _Fennekin jumped into the Delphox's arms and nuzzled his cheeks against its face. All three of them were smiling happily. Suddenly, the Trainer burst into flames and Fennekin yelped in fear. Fennekin jumped down and toward the Trainer, but then Delphox burst into flames as well. The fires dispersed, the Trainer and her Delphox now completely gone, and surrounding Fennekin were pillars of stone. Fennekin looked around in panic and found only one way out, a spot between two pillars small enough for him to run through. As he got out, he stopped at the sight of a figure in a red hood. The figure lifted its head to show a skull for a face and Fennekin cowered back._

"Fennekin!"

 _Fennekin could hear a faint voice calling out to him._

"FENNEKIN!"

 _(End Dream)_

Fennekin's eyes shot wide open and saw that Spiral had set him down at the base of a tree in the middle of a forest.

"Fennekin, are you okay?" Spiral asked in concern as he knelt down to his Pokémon.

Fennekin was still in a bit of shock to respond to its Trainer's question.

"It seemed like you were having a really bad dream." Spiral said.

Fennekin whimpered and looked toward the ground.

"But it's okay now." Spiral gave his Pokémon a warm smile.

He slowly picked up the shaking Fennekin and held him close to his chest.

"It's okay now…" Spiral said softly.

Fennekin began to feel calmer the longer it was in Spiral's embrace. Once Fennekin stopped shaking, Spiral stood up, took a free arm to sling his duffle bag over his shoulder and walked toward Santalune Forest.

* * *

 **A/N:** For those of you wondering what the hell that dream was about, it has to do with Fennekin's past and ties into something later on in the story. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	3. First Catch

**Spiral's going to catch his first Pokémon! Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

It was sunset as Spiral was walking through Santalune Forest, still carrying Fennekin in his arms.

"Are you feeling better now, Fennekin?" Spiral asked.

Fennekin hesitated to respond at first, but then nodded. Just then, there was the sound of rustling leaves and they turned their heads to see a Caterpie squirming down a tree.

"A Caterpie!" Spiral exclaimed as he pulled out his Pokédex.

" _Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon."_ The Pokédex spoke in a robotic voice as it scanned the Caterpie. _"Its feet have suction cups that allow it to climb any surface. For protection, it releases a stench from its antennae that drives away predators."_

"Fennekin, are you up for a battle?" Spiral asked as he put the Pokédex back in his pocket.

 _And maybe you'll become as strong as Mommy someday._

Those words rang in Fennekin's head and he nodded to Spiral with determination in its eyes.

"All right!" Spiral pumped his arms. "Fennekin, use Ember!"

Fennekin fired cinders at the Caterpie and knocked the Caterpie out of the tree. Spiral took this moment to take out an empty Poké Ball from his belt.

"Should be weak enough to catch now!" Spiral said. "Poké Ball, go!"

Spiral threw the Poké Ball at the Caterpie, but a gust of wind knocked it away and it rolled back to the young Trainer.

"What the heck-?!"

"Freeeeeee!"

A angry Butterfree flew down and continued blowing wind at Spiral and Fennekin, eventually forcing the fox Pokémon back to its Poké Ball.

"Hey! Fenne-!" Spiral exclaimed in surprise.

The Butterfree grabbed the injured Caterpie and flew away high into the trees.

"Dam-I mean, dang!" Spiral corrected himself. "Mom wouldn't like it if I started cursing. Boy, I got an earful last time."

He took out Fennekin's Poké Ball and brought out his Pokémon. When Fennekin came out, he looked around in confusion as to what had just happened.

"Looks like that Butterfree used Whirlwind to force you back in your ball." Spiral said as he knelt down to Fennekin.

"Fenne…" Fennekin whimpered and looked down sadly.

"Don't be sad." Spiral smiled and petted Fennekin's head. "It's unfortunate, but there are plenty of other Pokémon here in the forest before we get to Santalune City."

"Na?" Fennekin looked up at Spiral.

"Now that I think about it, this is the first time you've gone back to your Poké Ball since we first met." Spiral said while he scratched his cheek. "I just never thought to call you back. Do you mind being in your ball?"

"Fennekin." Fennekin shook his head.

"Would you rather walk around with me?" Spiral asked.

"Kin!" Fennekin yipped happily.

"Then it's settled!" Spiral stood up as Fennekin leaped onto his shoulder. "Let's get going!"

Spiral began walking further into the forest as something was hiding in the branches, watching him and Fennekin closely from the shadows of the leaves.

* * *

Along the way, Spiral encountered a young boy who had challenged him to a battle. Spiral, of course, used Fennekin and the boy was using a Scatterbug.

"Scatterbug, String Shot!"

The Scatterbug was spitting out a webby string at Fennekin that wrapped around the fox and restricted his movements.

"Now Tackle!"

The Scatterbug charged toward Fennekin and rammed its body into him, making him roll along the ground.

"Fennekin, burn it away with Ember!"

Fennekin got back up and shot cinders at himself, burning away the webbing and restoring its movements.

"Now use Ember on Scatterbug!"

Fennekin breathed out more hot embers at Scatterbug and it was pelted by the attack.

"Now, Scratch!"

The tips of Fennekin's paw glistened and he swiped at the Scatterbug, leaving claw marks on its face as it fainted.

"Scatterbug, no!" The boy gasped.

"That was great, Fennekin!" Spiral cheered.

"Fenna!" Fennekin yipped and wagged his tail.

The boy recalled his Scatterbug back to its Poké Ball and walked over to Spiral.

"That was a good match." The boy said as he held out his hand.

"Ditto." Spiral shook his hand back.

"Where?!" The boy looked around excitedly.

"Uh-No, I meant 'great match, too'." Spiral corrected himself.

Whatever had been watching Spiral and Fennekin from the shady branches was still tailing them and witnessed the entire battle. When Spiral left the boy with the fox Pokémon on his shoulder, it continued to follow the pair.

* * *

It became dark and Spiral had gathered some trigs and placed them in a pile in the center of a clearing. Fennekin used Ember on the twigs to start the fire and after having some of the food that Spiral's mother had packed for him and his Pokémon, Spiral got into his sleeping bag and went to sleep as Fennekin curled up next to him to do the same. Late in the night, something snuck by under the cover of darkness and made its way towards Spiral's duffle bag. It examined the bag, found the zipper and began to unzip it bit by bit so it wouldn't alert the owner. However, Fennekin's ears perked up at the sound and awoke to notice the prowler by the bag. When Fennekin started growling at it, the shadow dashed away and back into the dark of the forest night.

"Fennekin?" Spiral groaned as he was woken up by his partner Pokémon's barking. "What's wrong?"

"Fen! Fen!" Fennekin barked as it turned back to Spiral.

He saw that Fennekin was near his bag, walked over to it and picked it up.

"Looks like a Pokémon tried to get into my bag." Spiral said before smiling down to Fennekin. "Good job scaring it away, Fennekin."

"Fennekin!" Fennekin yipped happily.

Spiral went back to his sleeping bag, placed his duffle bag near it and lied back down.

"At least this way we can keep a closer eye on it." Spiral said before closing his eyes. "Good night, Fennekin."

"Kiiiiin…" Fennekin yawned, curled up next to Spiral and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Spiral and Fennekin woke to see that whatever tried to sneak into their bag had not returned while they slept. Once they had their breakfast, they continued their way along the forest trail.

"We still haven't caught anything yet." Spiral said. "But at least we got some experience."

"… Fen?" Fennekin turned his head toward the trees and saw a shadow hiding in the branches. "Kiiiiin!" He growled.

"What is it?" Spiral turned to Fennekin, but then saw the creature up in the trees. "Is that the thing from last night?"

In a flash, the shadow jumped out of the tree and landed in front of Spiral and Fennekin, its form finally revealed.

"Is that…" Spiral's expression started off curious, but then turned into excitement. "A Pikachu?!"

The Pokémon that stood between Spiral and the exit to Santalune Forest, the one following him since he arrived, was a yellow rodent with black stripes and a tail in the shape of a lightning bolt. Based on its tail, which didn't have a heart-shaped tip, it must have been male.

"Pika!" The Pikachu growled.

Spiral took out his Pokédex and it scanned the Pikachu.

" _Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon. Its cheeks contain electric sacs that can discharge electric shocks if threatened. Its tail is used to check its surroundings and can be sometimes struck by lightning in this pose."_

"Pikachu aren't seen very often here." Spiral said as he put away the Pokédex. "We can't let this chance slip by! You ready, Fennekin?"

"Fen!" Fennekin replied.

"All right! Fennekin, Tail Whip!"

Fennekin leaped off of Spiral's shoulder and began wagging its tail cutely, catching Pikachu off guard and lowering its defenses.

"Now use Scratch!"

Fennekin swiped at Pikachu with its shining paws and made a direct hit. Pikachu was knocked back, but managed to smoothly recover from the blow.

"Alright, Fennekin! Ember!"

Just as Fennekin was about to carry out the command, an electric shock made Fennekin flinch and stop his attack.

"Fennekin, are you okay?" Spiral asked.

"Pika… CHUUUUUUU!" The Pikachu released a thin bolt of electricity at Fennekin.

Fennekin was electrocuted from Pikachu's attack, but he was still able to stand.

*Why couldn't Fennekin…* Spiral thought. *Wait, I read about this! Most Pikachu have an ability called Static. If it's hit with a physical attack like Scratch, then the attacker is struck with paralysis. Why the heck did I use Scratch?! I'm such an idiot!*

While Spiral was smacking himself for his mistake, the Pikachu dashed in and whacked Fennekin in the face with its tail.

"Fennekin!" Spiral snapped out of his head. "Try to use Ember again!"

As Fennekin got back up, he shot out a wave of cinders from his mouth at the Pikachu and it was pelted by the hot embers. When the tiny flames subsided, the Pikachu began to panic when it noticed that its tail was on fire.

"Pi?! PIIIKAAAA!" The Pikachu ran around in circles and rolled along the ground frantically in an attempt to put out the flame.

Spiral watched it for a moment and then smiled. "… What luck! We managed to burn it, Fennekin! That'll make it easier to catch! Give it another Scratch!"

Since Fennekin was already paralyzed, it didn't have to worry about getting inflicted with it again, so it scratched the Pikachu and sent it skidding along the ground a bit. Just as the Pikachu was struggling to get up, Spiral took this chance to pull out a Poké Ball.

"… Please don't let other Pikachu get in the way…" Spiral whimpered to himself before readying his throw. "Poké Ball, go!"

Spiral threw the Poké Ball at the Pikachu and it managed to bop against its head just as it finally stood back up. It went inside the ball and Spiral watched anxiously as it repeatedly shook about, hoping it wouldn't get out as Fennekin was already looking fairly exhausted.

"Come ooooon…" Spiral muttered. "Staaaay…"

The ball continued shaking, but eventually it stopped and made a clicking noise. Spiral waited a second to make sure that it wasn't about to break free and slowly made his way to the ball. It had yet to open back up, so it was safe to say that the Pikachu had been successfully captured.

"We…" Spiral picked up the Poké Ball as Fennekin went up to him. "We caught it… We caught it!" He then raised the ball up to the sky. "We caught our first Pokémon!"

Spiral became so excited that he couldn't help but jump into the air several times.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin cheered and wagged his tail.

Spiral suddenly stopped mid-jump. "Wait a minute…"

He rummaged through his bag, pulled out a potion and lightly jogged to Fennekin.

"This might sting a little and it probably won't get rid of your paralysis, but it'll at least take care of your wounds." Spiral said.

He sprayed Fennekin's bruises with the potion, making the fox whine a bit. When Spiral was done, he placed the bottle back in his bag and picked up Fennekin.

"It's still best if we get to Santalune City as soon as we can." Spiral said. "Your paralysis and Pikachu's burn shouldn't be left untreated for long."

"Fe…"

Spiral resumed walking down the forest path. After a few minutes of walking, he could make out an opening where the trees stopped and started jogging toward it. When he reached it, he could make out several buildings along the horizon and he and Fennekin looked on in amazement.

"We're finally here!" Spiral said. "Santalune City! Soon we'll have our first gym battle, Fennekin!" He looked down at Fennekin in his arms.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin yipped cheerfully.

"But first, the Pokémon Center."

Spiral resumed jogging toward Santalune City, anticipating his first gym battle in Kalos.

* * *

 **A/N:** Unless you read the original version of this story, how many of you guessed it would be a Pikachu? … Actually, never mind. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	4. Observation

**Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Spiral had finally arrived in Santalune City and the first place he immediately went to was the Pokémon Center. He went inside with Fennekin still in his arms and walked up to the nurse at the front counter

"Excuse me? Is this where I come to heal my Pokémon, right?" Spiral asked.

"Yes, this is it." The nurse said. "Are you a new Trainer?"

"Mmhm." Spiral nodded.

"My name is Nurse Joy." She politely bowed to him. "Here at the Pokémon Center, you can heal your injured Pokémon free of charge."

"If your services are free, how do you make money to stay in business?" Spiral questioned.

"My, aren't you the inquisitive type." Nurse Joy giggled. "Pokémon Centers aren't just hospitals for Pokémon; they are also a restaurant, Trainer shop and inn all in one."

"Okay, now it makes more sense." Spiral said before pulling out Fennekin's Poké Ball. "Fennekin, you're going to have to go back into your ball for now, okay?"

"Fenna." Fennekin spoke.

Spiral recalled Fennekin back to his Poké Ball, took out his Pikachu's Poké Ball as well and placed them in a Poké Ball tray to hand to Nurse Joy.

"Come back in a little while." Nurse Joy took the tray of Poké Balls.

Spiral turned around and looked over the Pokémon Center until he saw a set of video phones.

"I should probably call Mom and let her know I got here safe." He said as he walked over to the phones.

He took a seat in front of one of the phones, dialed a series of numbers and waited for his mother to respond. After about five rings, it immediately went straight to a message receiver.

"Hi, Mom, it's me." Spiral said into the speaker. "I just wanted to let you know that I made it to Santalune City all right. I managed to catch my first Pokémon, though I'm sure you'd rather hear the story from me. Anyway, I'll call you again later today. Love you."

After hanging up the phone, he let out a heavy sigh.

"Maybe she's out shopping." Spiral muttered to himself before looking toward the Pokémon Center front doors. "Perhaps I can check out the gym in the meantime."

* * *

After acquiring a map of the city, Spiral began walking around until he finally managed to find his way to the Santalune Gym, a large building with a green roof and tall glass windows. As he approached the gym, he noticed a familiar face standing in front of it.

"Hey, Kimiko!" Spiral called out to and ran toward the girl at the gym's entrance.

"Huh?" Kimiko turned and saw Spiral running up to her. "Oh, Spiral. How are you?"

"Fine." Spiral answered. "Did you catch any new Pokémon since the last time we met?"

"No." She shook her head. "I still only have Froakie and Fletchling. You probably caught more than I did, though."

"Well…" Spiral chuckled nervously. "I only caught one. You about to challenge the Santalune Gym?"

"Oh, y-you can go first if you want."

"Both of my Pokémon are being treated back at the Center, so you can go ahead. Do you mind if I watch?"

"W-watch?!" Kimiko stammered and lightly blushed.

"Yeah, that way I know what kind of Pokémon to expect from the Gym Leader."

"O-oh…" Kimiko gave a light sigh. "R-r-right…"

They both went through the front doors and walked through a hallway of photographs of various Pokémon, mostly, if not all of them, were Bug-types.

"Wow!" Kimiko admired the photos as they passed by them. "These pictures all look amazing!"

"Judging by these photos, maybe the Gym Leader here uses Bug-types." Spiral guessed before thinking to himself. *If that's the case, I might only need to use Fennekin.*

They continued walking until they went through another set of doors and into a wide open room with a Pokémon battlefield in the center of it. There were trees all around the battlefield save for a few paths for spectators and the ceiling was glass, almost as if it was like a greenhouse.

"E-excuse me?" Kimiko called out rather quietly. "I-I'm here for a gym battle."

"Kimiko, the Gym Leader's not gonna hear you if you don't speak up." Spiral said. "Like this." He took a deep breath before shouting loudly. "Excuse us?! There's someone here for a gym battle!"

After a few seconds, the doors on the other side of the room opened and a woman with blonde hair, a white shirt, green pants and a camera hanging from her neck came in.

"You came at a good time." The woman said. "I just got back from the field."

"Are you the Gym Leader, ma'am?" Kimiko asked.

"Yep." The woman pointed her thumb at herself. "Viola, the Santalune Gym Leader. Uh? Why is your friend looking away from me?"

Kimiko looked toward Spiral and noticed that he had his head turned away from Viola.

"Spiral, is something wrong?" Kimiko asked.

"Nothing!" Spiral replied rather quickly with a hint of pink on his face. "Nothing is wrong! Anyway, she's the one who wanted to challenge you to a gym battle."

A couple moments later, Kimiko and Viola stood on opposite sides of the battlefield, each with a Poké Ball in hand, and a referee stood on the sidelines in between them. Spiral was standing nearby as a spectator behind the referee.

"The Gym Battle between Viola, the Santalune Gym Leader, and Kimiko Kage, the challenger, will now begin!" The referee proclaimed. "Each side will be allowed to use two Pokémon! The battle is over when all Pokémon on one side are no longer able to battle! Only the challenger is permitted to substitute Pokémon mid-battle!"

"Surskit, Go!" Viola threw out a Poké Ball and out of it came a small, four-legged blue spider.

" A Surskit…" Spiral muttered as he pulled out his Pokédex.

" _Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon."_ The Pokédex chimed. _"Surskit secretes oil on its feet that allow it to skate on water and the tip of its head releases a sweet scent to draw in prey."_

*A Bug AND Water-type.* Spiral thought as he examined the Pokédex's data. *Fennekin's going to have a real problem against that.*

"Alright…" Kimiko said as she pulled out one of her Poké Balls. "Fletchling, go!"

Kimiko threw the Poké Ball and the Fletchling she had caught before entering Santalune Forest came out of it.

"Fletchling!" The small bird chirped as it flew in the air.

"BEGIN!" The referee raised her arm and swung it back down, signaling the combatants to start the battle.

"Quick Attack!" Both of them commanded.

Surskit and Fletchling dashed at each other at high speed and collided into one another, the force knocking both of them away from each other.

"Now, Surskit, Bubble!"

Bubbles began to blow out from the tip of Surskit's head at Fletchling.

"Fletchling, dodge!"

Fletchling swiftly flew around and past the bubbles Surskit was blowing.

"And Peck!"

With a swift strike, Fletchling quickly dived at Surskit and struck it beak first.

"Get back in with Quick Attack!" Viola shouted.

After Surskit stopped keeling from Fletchling's attack, it dashed right into Fletchling and pushed the tiny bird Pokémon away.

"Fletchling, are you okay?" Kimiko asked worriedly.

"Fletch-ling!" Fletchling chirped back.

"Okay, use Quick Attack to get in close and then use Peck!"

Fletchling began darting through the air towards Surskit.

"Bubble!"

Surskit blew bubbles from the tip of its head again to create a 'wall' between the two of them.

"Fletchling, find gaps in their defense!"

Fletchling easily and quickly navigated through the wall of bubbles, came up to Surskit and delivered a strong peck that sent the bug sliding to Viola.

"Surskit, no!" Viola exclaimed.

Surskit looked as if it was completely unconscious.

"Surskit is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Fletchling is the winner!"

"Phew…" Kimiko sighed with relief before smiling at Fletchling. "Great job, Fletchling!"

"Fletchling!" Fletchling responded happily.

Spiral intently watched the battle the entire time, taking mental notes of every detail he could find.

"Don't worry, Surskit." Viola said as she recalled Surskit back to its Poké Ball. "You did your best." She put Surskit's Poké Ball away and pulled out another one. "Vivillon, you're up!"

Out of Viola's Poké Ball appeared a butterfly-like Pokémon with pink wings and Spiral took out his Pokédex again for more Intel.

" _Vivillon, the Scale Pokémon and the fully evolved form of Scatterbug. The patterns on their wings vary depending on the climate of their habitat and release colorful scales when beating its wings."_

*Now it's a battle between Flying-types, although Fletchling has the type advantage.* Spiral thought to himself.

"Fletchling, Peck!" Kimiko commanded.

Fletchling darted its way towards the airborne Vivillon.

"Vivillon, Harden!"

Vivillon curled its wings around the front of its body and they glistened in the sunlight peering through the roof. When Fletchling struck it, the bird bounced back and fell to the ground, checking its beak for injuries.

"Now, Infestation!"

Vivillon unfurled its wings and repeatedly beat them, unleashing a swarm of tiny insects at Fletchling while it was recovering. When the tiny bugs latched onto the bird, it started feeling the bugs biting at him and winced in pain.

"Fletchling!" Kimiko exclaimed.

"Now use Tackle!"

Vivillon charged at Fletchling and crashed right through it, sending it flying back towards Kimiko. As the bugs scurried off of Fletchling, everyone could make out that it had lost consciousness.

"Fletchling is unable to battle!" The referee proclaimed. "Vivillon is the winner!"

Kimiko picked up Fletchling and took out its Poké Ball. "I'm so sorry about that, Fletchling…"

Fletchling was recalled back into its Poké Ball and Kimiko put it back into her bag, only to pull out another in its place.

*I think I know who Kimiko's using next…* Spiral thought.

"Froakie, you're our last chance!" Kimiko said as she threw out the Poké Ball.

"Froa-kie!" Froakie croaked as it came out of its Poké Ball.

"This will be the final match of the battle!" The referee announced. "Now… Begin!"

"Froakie, use Quick Attack!"

Froakie began jumping toward Vivillon at great speeds.

"Harden!"

Vivillon curled its wings around its body again.

"Get around it and use Pound!" Kimiko quickly shouted.

Froakie disappeared as soon as it got in right front of Vivillon, reappeared behind it and smacked it in the back of its head.

"Now, Lick!"

Froakie stuck out its long tongue and licked Vivillon, making it shudder and float toward the ground.

"Vivillon, Infestation!"

Vivillon tried to attack, but the lick attack had rendered it paralyzed and it couldn't counterattack.

"Now's our chance, Froakie!" Kimiko said. "Bubble!"

Froakie blew a flurry of bubbles at Vivillon, their popping causing a fair bit of damage with each one.

"Let's end this with Quick Attack!"

Before Vivillon could get back up, Froakie rammed into it at high speed and sent the butterfly flying into the air, eventually crashing into the ground in a cloud of dust. Once everyone could make things out, Vivillon appeared to be unconscious and wasn't moving.

"Vivillon is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Froakie is the winner! And the victory goes to the challenger, Kimiko Kage!"

"We did it, Froakie!" Kimiko giggled as all of the tension in her body disappeared.

"Froakie!" Froakie hopped toward Kimiko.

Kimiko caught Froakie in her arms and hugged the frog Pokémon. Viola recalled her Vivillon and walked up to Kimiko.

"That was very impressive." Viola said. "I wish I took a picture of that. Anyway, here's the Bug Badge. You've earned it."

Viola held out her hand, which had a pin shaped like a bug's shell and mouth-like pincers, and Kimiko accepted the badge.

"Thank you very much." Kimiko said before politely bowing to Viola. "Please take care."

"That was amazing, Kimiko!" Spiral said as he walked up to her. "Your Froakie in particular was really awesome! I'm glad I decided to stay and watch!"

"I… I don't know what to say…" Kimiko looked away shyly from Spiral.

"Fennekin and Pikachu should be all healed up by now." Spiral said. "After getting ourselves something to eat, we're going to do some serious training."

"If those are the Pokémon you're using, you should have a much easier time than I did."

"I don't know… You and Froakie really overwhelmed Viola and her Vivillon."

"So, seriously…" Viola spoke up from behind them. "Why were you looking away from me, earlier?"

Spiral groaned as he turned his head away from Viola again, his face shaded in light pink. "I… I feel flustered around women older than me… Ow!"

Spiral felt something slap him in the arm and saw Kimiko with her arm out. When she realized what she did, she quickly retracted it.

"I'm sorry!" Kimiko panicked. "I don't know why I did that!"

Viola laughed at the two young Trainers and took a photo of them with her camera.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm sorry this took so long! Freakin' _Overwatch_ event and I couldn't unlock the witch costume for Mercy! Anyway, how are all of you feeling about Sun and Moon? I already have both pre-ordered! I was surprised they revealed the final starter evolutions ahead of release, which they all look really cool by the way! I'm going with Rowlet in Sun, which will be my main game, and Popplio in Moon. And by the way, yes, I plan on doing a sequel story in Alola once I finish this one. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	5. Spiral vs Viola

**Time for Spiral's first Gym Battle! Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

After a couple of days of training, Spiral stood before the Santalune City Gym with Fennekin sitting on his shoulder.

"Ready, Fennekin?" Spiral asked as he turned to his partner Pokémon.

"Fennekin!" Fennekin gave Spiral a resolute nod.

Spiral pushed open the doors and followed the hallway he saw the other day to another door that led to the gym's battlefield.

"Viola!" Spiral called out. "I challenge you to a Gym Battle!"

Out of the doors on the other side of the room, Viola walked out rubbing the back of her neck.

"Man, you challengers just won't give me a break now that I'm back, will you?" Viola sighed.

"What do you mean?" Spiral inquired.

"Hm? Aren't you that boy from the other day?" Viola asked.

"Mm-hm." Spiral nodded. "So what did you mean when you said Trainers wouldn't give you a break?"

"Just yesterday, I was challenged by this girl and her Chespin. That was her only Pokémon and she wanted me to use both of mine. She made quick work of my Surskit and almost beat Vivillon."

*Sounds like Xifeng.* Spiral thought.

"Aw well, I'll accept your challenge." Viola said.

Both Spiral and Viola took their opposing positions on the battlefield as the referee took her position on the side of the arena.

"The Gym Battle between Viola, the Santalune Gym Leader, and Spiral Yuki, the challenger, will now begin!" The referee proclaimed. "Each side will be allowed to use two Pokémon! The battle is over when all Pokémon on one side are no longer able to battle! Only the challenger is permitted to substitute Pokémon mid-battle!"

"Come out, Surskit!" Viola threw out a Poké Ball and her Surskit came out of it.

"I figured she'd use Surskit first again." Spiral mumbled before pulling out a Poké Ball of his own. "You're up first, Pikachu!"

Spiral threw the Poké Ball and his Pikachu came out of it.

"PikaChu!"

"BEGIN!" The referee raised her arm and swung it back down, signaling the combatants to start the battle.

"Surskit, Bubble!"

Surskit blew bubbles from the tip of its head at Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to dodge and counterattack!"

Pikachu almost instantly dodged the bubbles and, in a flash, crashed into Surskit.

"Bubble again!"

The moment Pikachu bashed Surskit, the bug Pokémon shot point blank bubbles at the electric mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu, are you okay?" Spiral asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied without hesitation.

"Alright, Thunder Shock!"

Pikachu released a small bolt of electricity at Surskit, dealing a fair amount of damage.

"Surskit, Quick Attack!"

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack, too!"

Both Pikachu and Surskit rushed toward each other at great speeds, but Surskit was moving faster and knocked Pikachu away from it.

*That last Bubble must've slowed Pikachu down.* Spiral thought. "Pikachu, Growl!"

"Piiii… KAAAAAAAA!" Pikachu let out a cute growl.

"Surskit, Quick Attack again!"

Surskit dashed at Pikachu again and sent it skidding toward Spiral, but Pikachu managed to get back on its feet.

"Bubble!"

Surskit was about to blow out more bubbles, but its body was suddenly locked in place and it couldn't move.

"Surskit?"

"Pikachu's Static must have finally taken effect!" Spiral said. "Here's our chance, Pikachu, Thunder Shock!"

"Pika… CHUUUUUUUU!"

Pikachu sent another bolt of electricity at Surskit and electrocuted it. When Pikachu stopped, Surskit's burnt body fell back and lost consciousness.

"Surskit is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Pikachu wins!"

"Great job, Pikachu!" Spiral ran up to Pikachu and petted him on the head.

"PiiiKa!" Pikachu smiled happily.

Viola recalled Surskit back to its Poké Ball. "You did great, Surskit. Take it easy for now." She put the Poké Ball away and turned to Spiral. "I'm impressed. You used Pikachu's Growl to lessen Quick Attack's damage in the hopes that eventually Surskit would get paralyzed."

"It was good thinking on your part to use Bubble to slow Pikachu down, so I had to find a way to slow Surskit down." Spiral stated. "Hoping for paralysis was the best option."

"But I won't fall for it again." Viola pulled out another Poké Ball. "Vivillon!"

Viola threw out the Poké Ball and her Vivillon came out of it.

"Do you want to take a break, Pikachu?" Spiral asked.

Pikachu turned to Spiral and pumped its small arms. "PiKa!"

"Alright then, I'm sticking with Pikachu!" Spiral said.

"BEGIN!" The referee allowed the battle to continue.

"Thunder Shock!"

Pikachu discharged a small electric bolt directly at Vivillon.

"Dodge it and use Infestation!"

Vivillon dodged the lightning bolt and was beginning to beat its wings.

"Pikachu, get out of the way!" Spiral exclaimed.

"Pika?"

Pikachu was somewhat confused by the panicked tone in Spiral's voice and Vivillon blew a swarm of small insects at him. The tiny bugs were crawling and biting all over Pikachu's body. Pikachu tried to shake them off, but they wouldn't let go.

*Maybe Pikachu running around could get rid of that Infestation…* Spiral thought before giving Pikachu his next command. "Pikachu, Quick Attack on Vivillon!"

Pikachu bit the bullet and quickly charged at Vivillon, some of the bugs coming off in the process.

*It's working!* Spiral thought.

"Harden!" Viola commanded.

Vivillon furled its wings around its body and they glistened just before Pikachu crashed into it. Pikachu was forced back several feet and slid toward Spiral.

*Pikachu's not looking so good right now.* Spiral thought as he took out Pikachu's Poké Ball and aimed it at him. "Pikachu, return!"

The Poké Ball shot its beam at Pikachu, but it refused to recall him back.

"What's going on?" Spiral wondered.

"Infestation not only damages your Pokémon over time, it also keeps it from switching out." Viola explained. "Vivillon, Infestation one more time!"

Vivillon blew another swarm of insects at Pikachu and he continued squirming in pain.

"Pikachu!" Spiral shouted.

Pikachu then fell on its back and the insects scurried off of his body, revealing that he was no longer conscious.

"Pikachu is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Vivillon wins!"

Spiral ran over to Pikachu and picked him up, Fennekin following him.

"I'm sorry, Pikachu…" Spiral said.

"Piii… Chuuu…" Pikachu weakly whispered.

"You were still great in that last battle." Spiral said in a soft voice as he held out Pikachu's Poké Ball. "Take a good rest. Fennekin and I will take it from here."

Pikachu was returned back into his Poké Ball and Spiral put it away and looked down toward Fennekin.

"This is our last chance, Fennekin." Spiral said. "Are you ready?"

"Kin!" Fennekin nodded.

Spiral went back to the edge of the battlefield and Fennekin readied itself for a fight.

"All right, Viola!" Spiral said. "Let's finish this!"

"BEGIN!"

"Fennekin, Howl!"

Fennekin howled loudly, pumping itself up for battle.

"Vivillon, Tackle!"

Vivillon dived toward Fennekin.

"Scratch!"

Fennekin's paw glistened and as Vivillon got close, it swiped the sharpened paw across its face while avoiding the butterfly's attack.

"Infestation!"

Vivillon flapped its wings and sent an insect swarm at Fennekin.

"Burn them away with Ember!"

Fennekin shot a ball of hot cinders from its mouth that collided with the bug swarm, burning them all to ash before they could latch onto him.

"Use Howl again, followed by Scratch!"

Fennekin let out another war howl and leaped toward Vivillon.

"Harden!"

Vivillon protected itself with its wings, but Fennekin's attack caused Vivillon to flinch from its wings being scratched up.

"I see what you're up to." Viola said to Spiral. "You're increasing your Pokémon's attack power to match up to our defense boost. Vivillon, Infestation!"

Vivillon sent another swarm of bugs at Fennekin, but this time it hit and the fox was trying to shake them off.

"Fennekin, burn them away with Ember!"

Fennekin lightly breathed tiny flames at its body to get rid of the bugs.

"Vivillon, Tackle!"

Vivillon charged at Fennekin head first and crashed right into him, dealing a critical blow and sending him flying towards Spiral.

"Fennekin, are you okay?!" Spiral asked.

Fennekin struggled to get up, but was able to stand firmly again.

"Alright, Fennekin, Tail Whip!"

Fennekin wagged his tail in front of Vivillon and the butterfly lowered its guard.

"Vivillon!" Viola exclaimed.

"Howl and Scratch!"

Fennekin howled and jumped over Vivillon, swiping its head as it did so.

"And point-blank Ember!"

Fennekin blasted Vivillon with a ball of Embers, creating a cloud of smoke that engulfed both Pokémon. Spiral and Viola waited for the smoke to clear to see the outcome of the fight. Fennekin was still standing on all fours and Vivillon was lying motionless on the ground. The referee ran over to get a better check Vivillon's status.

"… Vivillon is unable to battle! Fennekin wins! And the victory goes to the challenger, Spiral Yuki!"

"I… I won…" Spiral whispered as a smile started to appear on his face and grow bigger with each second. "We… We won! We won our first Gym Battle, Fennekin!"

Spiral couldn't contain his joy anymore and ran toward his Pokémon. Fennekin turned around and ran up to his Trainer, just as excited. As the two got closer, Fennekin jumped up and Spiral held out his arms to catch and hold him.

"All that training paid off!" Spiral said as he hugged Fennekin. "Both you and Pikachu were amazing! Oh!"

He took his left arm, reached into his bag, pulled out Pikachu's Poké Ball and brought him out. Pikachu appeared to be still a little dazed from the previous battle.

"Hey, Pikachu?" Spiral tried to get Pikachu's attention.

"Pi… ka…" Pikachu looked up at Spiral.

"We won!" Spiral said. "And it's all thanks to you and Fennekin!"

Suddenly, Pikachu was rejuvenated, leaped onto Spiral's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek against his Trainer's, eliciting a giggle from Spiral.

Viola couldn't help but smile at the clearly close bond Spiral already shared with his Pokémon. She walked over to Vivillon and knelt down to it as it started to get back up.

"Don't feel bad, Vivillon." Viola petted her Pokémon's head. "You and Surskit were great." She took out Vivillon's Poké Ball. "You deserve a rest."

Once Vivillon was returned to its Poké Ball, she walked over to Spiral.

"You and your Pokémon demonstrated excellent understanding of both type advantages and moves." Viola held out a clenched hand to Spiral. "You earned this, the Bug Badge."

Spiral looked to Viola's hand as she unclenched it to reveal the same badge she had given Kimiko the other day.

"Thank you." Spiral said as he took the badge with his free hand.

He set Fennekin down so he could fiddle around in his bag until he pulled out a thin case which he placed his newly acquired badge in.

"Only seven more to go…" Spiral muttered.

* * *

After Spiral got back to the Pokémon Center and had his Pokémon healed up, he went on the phone once again to contact his mother as the sun was almost about to set. Just like before, she didn't answer and Spiral decided to just hang up without leaving a message.

"She didn't pick up this time, either…" Spiral said.

"Fen?" Fennekin spoke as he sat on Spiral's shoulder.

"Spiral?"

Spiral turned around to see Kimiko standing behind him.

"Kimiko, I thought you'd be off to Lumiose City." Spiral said.

"I-I thought I could use some more training, so I stayed." Kimiko stated.

"Anyway, since we're both here and our Pokémon healed up, what do you say to a Pokémon battle?"

"Wha-N-Now?!" Kimiko stammered.

"I don't see why not. Fennekin and I never got the chance to fight you and Froakie back in Santalune Forest like I did with Xifeng."

"O-okay… Let me check with Froakie, first." Kimiko took out a Poké Ball and called out her Froakie from it. "Froakie, Spiral and Fennekin are challenging us to a battle."

"Froa-Kie!" Froakie smiled at Kimiko with determination and confidence.

"Froakie's okay with it." Kimiko said to Spiral.

"There's an arena behind the Pokémon Center we can use." Spiral said. "But I'm warning you, we're quite strong."

* * *

 **A/N:** That's it! I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	6. Taste of Defeat

**Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Behind the Santalune City Pokémon Center, Spiral and Kimiko were standing on opposite sides of a battlefield with their starting Pokémon ready to fight.

"Froakie, Bubble!" Kimiko made the first move.

Froakie puffed its cheeks and blew of flurry of bubbles toward Fennekin.

"Fennekin, dodge and then Tail Whip!"

Fennekin leapt out of the way of the bubbles and adorably wagged his tail, making Froakie lower its guard.

"Froakie, don't fall for it!" Kimiko said.

"Now Scratch!"

Fennekin jumped toward Froakie, retracted its claws and swiped them at the small frog. The attack dealt more damage than normal, but Froakie was still standing strong.

"Froakie, Quick Attack!"

Froakie quickly moved at Fennekin and knocked into him, sending the little fox back a few feet.

"Ember!"

Fennekin spat out hot embers at Froakie.

"Stop the Ember with Bubble!"

Froakie blew bubbles at the embers and upon colliding steam began to cover, obscuring everyone's vision.

"Fennekin, can you see anything?" Spiral asked.

Fennekin kept looking back and forth for Froakie, but he couldn't make anything out. With his back turned, a shadow appeared behind him.

"Froakie, Bubble!"

"Huh?!" Spiral exclaimed.

Spiral could only hear the sound of popping bubbles and Fennekin screaming from within the steam cloud.

"Fennekin!" Spiral exclaimed.

When the steam finally dispersed, Fennekin was lying on the ground, barely able to stand up and completely wet.

"Fennekin!" Spiral ran over to his Pokémon, picked him up and held him in his arms. "Fennekin, are you all right?"

Fennekin winced in pain a little before opening its eyes and looking into Spiral's.

"Nekin…" Fennekin uttered weakly.

"I'm sorry." Kimiko went up to Spiral and politely bowed to him. "We were probably a little tough on you."

"Kie…" Froakie looked down at the ground apologetically.

Spiral stood up without looking at Kimiko. "I should take Fennekin to Nurse Joy. I'll probably see you in Lumiose City."

With that, Spiral walked away from Kimiko and Froakie, concern all over her face.

"… Spiral…" Kimiko muttered under her breath.

* * *

While Fennekin was being treated by Nurse Joy, Spiral sat on the bench in the hallway with his hands clasped together and looking down at the ground.

*Kimiko and I started our journeys at the exact same time!* Spiral thought as he grit his teeth. *And yet she completely demolished us! It wasn't just a type advantage, though! She and Froakie knew exactly what to do and when! And there are so many more Trainers that are even stronger than her!*

Suddenly, Spiral could hear the pop of a Poké Ball and his Pikachu appeared right next to him.

"Kachu?" Pikachu tilted his head and looked up at Spiral.

"Fennekin's going to be all right, Pikachu…" Spiral petted Pikachu's head.

However, he noticed that Pikachu was looking at him not with worry, but rather concern.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Spiral asked.

"Pika pika…" Pikachu scooted itself over to Spiral and started rubbing his head against his Trainer's arm like an affectionate cat.

"I'm fine, Pikachu…" Spiral looked away from the electric mouse.

Spiral continued looking away from Pikachu as it just gazed it him until he finally looked back at it. He took a long, deep breath before speaking up again.

"If we're going to beat Kimiko, or anyone else for that matter, we're going to have to do some serious training!"

"Pika…" Pikachu looked at Spiral sadly.

"I know better than to push you and Fennekin to the ground." Spiral petted Pikachu's head. "That would make me an even worse Trainer. I love Pokémon and would never do anything to make you unhappy."

Pikachu let out a light sigh of relief, but still felt a little uneasy that he couldn't shake off. However, Spiral's words seemed to have a genuine honesty to them and Pikachu figured that he should just keep an eye on his Trainer.

Bing-bong!

Spiral and Pikachu looked toward the double doors to see Nurse Joy pushing a stretcher that Fennekin was sitting on.

"Fennekin!" Spiral exclaimed as he ran up to the stretcher, Pikachu jumping onto his left shoulder.

"You're Pokémon is all patched up." Nurse Joy said. "I would advise against battling for a while so he can recover."

"I'm sorry that we lost against Kimiko, Fennekin, but tomorrow we're gonna start training so we can finally beat them someday!" Spiral said with a smile.

Fennekin leaped onto Spiral's right shoulder and rubbed his head against his cheeks. Spiral giggled from the tickling of Fennekin's fur.

* * *

 **A/N:** I decided to make this chapter short because I didn't want to write in any unnecessary filler, it would be an odd tone transition between what I planned for right after this and I've been hooked on Sun  & Moon since release. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	7. Riolu's Test

**Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Just east of Santalune City in a secluded area of the woods of Détourner Way, a pack of Riolu were watching two other Riolu having a practice match with each other. One Riolu managed to knock the other down to the ground and the losing Pokémon struggled to stand back up. The winning Riolu walked up to the loser and held out his hand. They shook hands and as the loser was picked up by the spectators and guided away, the winner looked at his right paw and clenched it into a fist. It then walked off into the bushes, away from the rest of its pack.

* * *

Elsewhere in a nearby field, Fennekin and Pikachu were sparring with each other as Spiral gave them orders.

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock! Fennekin, Ember!"

Pikachu released a small bolt of electricity from its cheeks and Fennekin shot a ball of tiny flames at the bolt, the attacks colliding in an explosion of smoke.

"All right, I think that's enough for now!" Spiral said.

Fennekin and Pikachu were panting heavily and sat on the grass. Spiral sat down in front of his Pokémon and placed bowls of Pokémon in front of each of them, both of them chowing down.

"We've been working real hard." Spiral said. "Take a break for a while."

While his Pokémon were eating, Spiral sat down in front of a tree trunk, pulled out a book titled 'Training your Pokémon for the League' and started reading it.

"Hey, Spiral! How's it going?!" A loud voice yelled out while Spiral was in the middle of his reading.

Spiral looked up from the book and saw Xifeng in the distance and waving to him.

"Oh, hi, Xifeng." Spiral said. "Still training for your rematch at Santalune Gym?"

"How did you know I lost the first time?!" Xifeng questioned in surprise.

"Viola told me."

"Chespin and I ARE training, but we actually just got back from the Pokémon Center after our second battle."

"And how'd it go?"

Xifeng held out the Bug Badge for Spiral to see.

"Congratulations." Spiral said.

"What do you say to a battle?" Xifeng asked.

"Fennekin and Pikachu are a little worn from training right now, so maybe another time."

Unbeknownst to them, something was in the bushes. It looked at the pair of Trainers first and then to the feeding Fennekin and Pikachu before its attention was drawn back to Spiral and Xifeng.

"I bet you're just scared I might beat ya!" Xifeng crossed her arms.

"Do you mind?" Spiral asked without looking up from his book. "I'm trying to get some important reading done."

While Xifeng was trying to egg Spiral into a battle, Fennekin's ears perked up as he picked up a foreign scent coming from the bushes. Fennekin went up to the bush and started growling at it, baring his teeth and his tail standing straight up. Pikachu took notice and scurried up to Fennekin with a quizzical expression.

"Hm?" Spiral looked over at Fennekin, stood up and ran to it. "What is it, Fennekin? Something in the bushes?"

"Maybe it's a Pokémon!" Xifeng went next to Spiral and got excited.

The bushes began rustling and everyone readied their guards for what might jump out. A few seconds later, something small, blue and black came out of the bush and they all relaxed a bit.

"It's a Riolu!" Xifeng exclaimed in even more excitement.

Spiral took out his Pokédex and it scanned the Riolu.

" _Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. It communicates by changing the shape of its aura and can sense the auras of others to gauge their emotions. Despite its young age, it's energetic and a hard worker."_

"I've always wanted to catch a Riolu since I was a little girl and now one's just come up to me!" Xifeng squealed.

"RiRiolu…" Riolu held out its paw as if to signal Xifeng to hold on for a moment before taking up a fighting stance. "Olu…"

"I think it's challenging us." Spiral said.

"Consider your challenge accepted, Riolu!" Xifeng pulled out a Poké Ball. "Chespin, time to fight!"

Xifeng threw the Poké Ball and her Chespin came out of it. Spiral, Fennekin and Pikachu all got out of the way so they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire of the battle and watched closely.

"Chespin, Vine Whip!"

Thin vines slithered out of Chespin's shoulders and shot right toward Riolu. As the vines were coming at him, Riolu patiently waited for them to get close and grabbed them with his paws before they could even touch him.

"He grabbed them?!" Xifeng exclaimed in surprise.

Riolu pulled the vines upward, hurling Chespin up into the air, and threw the hedgehog into the ground. After retracting his vines, Chespin got up and looked at Riolu, who simply stood in place and motioned its paw to say 'bring it on'. Both Chespin and Xifeng got aggravated at the Pokémon.

"Chespin, Rollout!"

Chespin curled itself into a ball and began rolling straight at Riolu. When Chespin got close, Riolu jumped over the rolling hedgehog and dashed toward him with its Quick Attack, knocking his elbow against it and forcing Chespin to straighten out as he was flown into the air and fell to the ground.

"Get back up and use Tackle!"

Chespin got back up and charged at Riolu headfirst, but Riolu readied its guard and glowed with a turquoise aura. When Chespin's head made direct contact with Riolu, the Fighting-type blocked the attack with its left paw and slammed its right paw against Chespin's chest. A bluish light burst from Riolu's right paw and blasted Chespin across the field and into a tree.

"Chespin!"

Xifeng ran up to Chespin and saw that her Pokémon had fainted.

"It's okay, Chespin…" Xifeng sighed in a bit of sadness as she pulled out a Poké Ball. "We tried…"

Chespin was recalled back to its Ball and Xifeng stood back up.

"Don't you have any other Pokémon, Xifeng?" Spiral inquired.

"No…" Xifeng answered with a shake of her head.

"You haven't caught a single Pokémon since we started our journeys?!" Spiral questioned from the baffling answer. "Kimiko and I already have two each!"

"None of the other Pokémon are or evolve into Fighting-types."

Spiral groaned a little and then turned to face Riolu. "Guess I'm up next." He looked toward Fennekin standing in front of him. "Can you fight, Fennekin?"

"Fennekin!" Fennekin turned his head toward Spiral, smiled and nodded without hesitation.

"All right!" Spiral said.

Fennekin leapt a few feet in front of Riolu, the two Pokémon ready to battle.

*That Riolu's pretty strong.* Spiral thought. *Mostly because it seemed to counter everything Xifeng's Chespin-Wait! That's it!*

Riolu had started by charging in with its Quick Attack, crashing into Fennekin and sending him skidding back a bit.

"Fennekin, use Ember!"

Fennekin shot a ball of cinders at Riolu, but it jumped out of the way as the cinders hit the ground beneath him.

"Looks like you're good at dodging, too…" Spiral muttered. "Howl!"

Fennekin let out a howl to get itself fired up for its future attacks. Riolu's eyes glowed turquoise as it stared directly at Fennekin. Riolu then rushed at the fox Pokémon with another Quick Attack.

"Fennekin, dodge it!"

Fennekin jumped back, but Riolu kept its eyes on him and changed the direction of its attack so it made a solid hit against him.

"That must've been Foresight it just used." Spiral said. "Go in with Scratch!"

Fennekin jumped toward Riolu, its retractable claws coming from its paws, and Riolu took up a defensive stance.

*It's about to use Counter just like it did with Xifeng's Chespin!* Spiral thought.

Fennekin was still flying above the ground at Riolu and there was only a few inches between them.

"Now, Fennekin! Ember!" Spiral shouted.

Fennekin retracted its claws back and fired a point blank ember ball at Riolu, who was unable to dodge or counter it. A large cloud of smoke engulfed the area and as it cleared, Riolu was down on one knee and had burn marks all over its body.

"He's still standing… Good." Spiral pulled out a Poké Ball. "Xifeng's not the only one who's wanted a Riolu! Poké Ball, go!"

Spiral hurled the Poké Ball at Riolu and it bopped against its small body, turning into a red light and sending it inside the ball. It rolled and wiggled back and forth a few times, everyone watching in anticipation if it would stay inside.

"Come ooooon…" Spiral muttered.

After a few more seconds of wiggling, the Poké Ball stopped moving around and made a clicking sound.

"YES!" Spiral exclaimed in joy and ran toward the now occupied Poké Ball.

"Aw man!" Xifeng whined sadly.

Spiral picked up the Poké Ball and raised it into the air. "We got Riolu!"

"Fennekin!" Fennekin yipped happily.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu cheered with them.

"How come YOU were able to beat it?" Xifeng asked Spiral.

"Riolu knew the move Counter." Spiral stated. "Any physical attack used against it would retaliate with double the damage. At first, I was just going to have Fennekin use Ember since that's his only special attack, but Riolu's quick movements made it difficult to hit. So instead I had to fake him out by having Fennekin use Scratch when I was really just using that as an excuse for Fennekin to get close enough that he couldn't dodge his Ember."

"Stop rubbing it in with your long as heck explanations!" Xifeng said in a clearly upset tone. "I was supposed to catch Riolu!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have had Chespin constantly charge in and instead come up with a strategy." Spiral said.

Xifeng pouted. "You win this round, but there have to be more Riolu around here and I'm not leaving 'til I get one!"

After making her proclamation, Xifeng walked off into the woods, leaving Spiral alone with his Pokémon.

"Why don't we say hello to our new friend?" Spiral asked.

Fennekin and Pikachu responded cheerfully and Spiral tossed the Poké Ball into the air.

"Come on out, Riolu!"

Riolu came out of the Poké Ball and it looked around as Spiral knelt down to meet it at eye level.

"It's nice to officially meet you, Riolu." Spiral held out his hand. "My name is Spiral."

Riolu looked at Spiral's hand and eventually reached its paw out and shook its new Trainer's hand.

"And this is Fennekin and Pikachu." Spiral motioned his hand toward his other Pokémon.

Riolu turned around to see Fennekin and Pikachu, both of whom smiled at their new comrade.

"Now that I think about it…" Spiral spoke up.

Riolu's attention returned back to Spiral.

"Why did you challenge me and Xifeng to a battle in the first place?"

Determination filled Riolu's eyes and it raised its clenched paw as if it was a fist.

"RiRiolu."

"You want to become stronger? Is that it?"

Riolu nodded and Spiral smiled as he petted Riolu's head.

"I think we're all going to get along just fine. Welcome to the team, Riolu!"

Riolu gave a light smirk to Spiral and raised its arms.

"Ri!"

"You want to train already? Don't you want to recover from your battle with Fennekin first?"

Grrrrrr…

A strange noise came from Riolu and he placed a paw on his stomach.

"O…" Riolu groaned.

"Heheheh, sounds like somebody's hungry." Spiral giggled as he rummaged through his bag and held out a few Oran berries. "Here, these should restore your strength a bit."

Riolu took a couple of berries and took a bite out of one of them.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm sorry this chapter took me so long! Along with the release of Sun  & Moon, I had a difficult time deciding how Riolu would confront and test Spiral and Xifeng to see who would become its Trainer. At first it was going to be a bit more complicated, but then I chose the simple route. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	8. Timidity

**Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

North of Santalune City on Parterre Way, Spiral and his newly acquired Riolu were battling a wild Budew in a field of flowers.

"Riolu, Quick Attack!"

Riolu dashed toward Budew and charged right into it, sending it rolling onto its back. As soon as the Budew got up, a green stream of energy came from its body and clouded Riolu with it. The fighter Pokémon could feel its stamina slowly draining bit by bit and Budew's injuries were healing.

"It's using Absorb…" Spiral gritted his teeth and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Riolu, return!"

Riolu was called back to its Poké Ball and Spiral turned to Fennekin standing next to him.

"You're up, Fennekin!" Spiral said.

Fennekin eagerly nodded and got in front of Spiral. The Budew began spewing water from the bud on the top of its head and soaked itself with it.

"Use Ember!"

Fennekin pelted Budew with tiny flames, but they seem didn't do much damage.

"Scratch!"

Fennekin leaped toward Budew and swiped it with his sharpened paws, causing the living rosebud to stagger a bit as it turned around to face Fennekin.

"Now's my chance!" Spiral pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it at the Budew while its back was turned.

The Poké Ball hit the back of Budew's body and it went inside it. After the ball dropped to the grassy ground, it wiggled around a bit until it stopped and made a clicking noise.

"We got it!" Spiral exclaimed as he ran to the Poké Ball and picked it up. "Budew is ours!"

"Fennekin!" Fennekin yipped with cheer and wagged his tail.

Grrrrr…

Spiral placed his hand on his stomach. "What do you say we stop here for lunch? Then we can all train for a bit."

"Kin!" Fennekin replied with a smile.

After placing some food bowls on the ground and filling them up with Pokémon food, he tossed three Poké Balls into the air and out came out Pikachu, Riolu and the recently captured Budew.

"Time to eat, guys!" Spiral said.

"Dew!" Budew lightly leered at Spiral.

Spiral blankly stared at Budew for a couple of seconds. "… And girl?"

"Bud-ew!" Budew's expression changed to cheerful in an instant.

Spiral looked around at his other Pokémon to see if his other Pokémon had a similar response, but they didn't seem bothered by it at all.

"Guess the rest of you ARE boys…" Spiral said to himself before rummaging through his bag and gathering some ingredients for a sandwich. "I can at least make myself a sandwich…"

As his four Pokémon sat down and began eating, something was watching them from behind a tree close by. Just as Spiral was about to take a bite of his sandwich, from the corner of his eye he caught Budew scooting towards Riolu as he was eating.

"Bud?"

Riolu turned his head to Budew.

"Budew." Budew gave a playful smile.

Riolu just stared at Budew for two seconds before turning back to its food and resumed eating.

*That was weird…* Spiral thought.

Budew then scooted up to Fennekin, who was chowing down like he hadn't eaten all day.

"Budew?"

"Fen?" Fennekin's ears perked up and he looked at Budew.

"Dew!" Budew smiled sweetly again.

"Fenne?" Fennekin tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

*Wonder what she's saying to them?* Spiral thought again.

Budew finally went up to the happily eating Pikachu.

"Dew?"

"Chu?" Pikachu looked at Budew.

"Bud-budew!" Budew cheerfully smiled again.

"Pika-chu, Pi!" Pikachu nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

*Is Budew… flirting with them?* Spiral wondered in his head.

In the middle of his feeding, Riolu sensed the aura of something nearby and stood straight up instantly.

"Rio!"

"Riolu?" Spiral looked to his Pokémon.

Riolu slowly started to walk toward a tree without making any sudden moves. When he got to the tree, he jumped up to a branch that the others couldn't see because it was obscured by leaves. A few seconds later, they could hear Riolu hit the ground and something exclaiming as it tripped and fell. From behind the tree, a small white Pokémon fell on its back, revealing its whole small form to everyone.

"Is that what I think it is?!" Spiral rushed to get his Pokédex out and immediately scanned the new Pokémon.

" _Railts, the Feeling Pokémon."_ The Pokédex spoke. _"The horns on its head are able to sense the emotions of humans and Pokémon. It generally hides from people, especially if they harbor hostile feelings, but are drawn to those with positive dispositions."_

Riolu still stared down the frightened Ralts, making the poor thing even more uneasy.

"Riolu, stop scaring the little guy!" Spiral said.

"Bud?" Budew turned to Spiral with the same leer again.

"… Girl?" Spiral asked.

"Dew!" Budew smiled and nodded its body.

"I've got to get better at this…" Spiral muttered to himself and scratched the back of his head.

As Ralts got up, Fennekin gently walked over to it with a smile on his face.

"Nekin?" Fennekin held out a paw to Ralts.

"R… ralts?" Ralts timidly backed off.

"Fennekin!" The fox Pokémon gave a friendly yip.

Ralts looked at Fennekin's paw for a bit, but she eventually slowly reached out and touched the tip of the paw.

"Fen!" Fennekin shook hands with Ralts.

"R-ralts."

"You're a shy one, aren't you?" Spiral asked as he carefully walked up to Ralts, knelt down and gave a friendly smile to come across as less imposing. "We won't hurt you, I promise."

Ralts looked at Spiral for a moment and then looked to Spiral's other Pokémon. Aside from Riolu retaining a stoic expression, the other Pokémon had welcoming smiles. She could feel absolutely no malice coming from any of them, but she was still a bit uneasy. Spiral then held out his hand with a few pieces of Pokémon food in it. After looking at Spiral's face one more time, Ralts took a piece of food and ate it. With a swallow, it smiled and took the rest of the food from Spiral's hand.

"See?" With his hand emptied, Spiral petted Ralts's head. "We won't hurt you."

Ralts finished the last piece of food.

"If you're still hungry, we don't mind giving you more." Spiral said.

"Pi?" Pikachu looked toward Spiral as he was saying 'what'.

* * *

Everyone had finished up their meals and Spiral patted his stomach.

"Much better…" Spiral sighed in content. "Now that we've eaten, how about we do some sparring?"

Fennekin, Pikachu, Riolu and Budew all responded happily, with Ralts getting a little nervous again.

"Don't worry, Ralts." Spiral said. "You don't have to join in." He then stroked his chin. "But who should spar with whom?" He looked over his four Pokémon. "Pikachu and Riolu… How about it?"

Both Pikachu and Riolu nodded without hesitation and took their opposing positions while Fennekin, Budew and Ralts watched from the sidelines.

"… Ready?" Spiral asked them.

"Pika!"

"Rio!"

"Pikachu! Riolu! Quick Attack!"

Pikachu and Riolu dashed toward each other at great speeds and crashed right into each other, the collision of their attacks forcing them back a bit.

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock!"

Pikachu released a static bolt of electricity at Riolu.

"Riolu, dodge it and use Feint!"

Riolu jumped to Pikachu's side, dodging the electric bolt, got behind the mouse Pokémon and kicked him in the back. Pikachu quickly recovered from the blow and turned mid-recovery to face Riolu again.

"Now, Pikachu, Growl!"

Pikachu let out a cute growl that lowered Riolu's attack power.

"Both of you, Quick Attack again!"

Pikachu and Riolu dashed at each other again, but Pikachu managed to knock Riolu out of its attack and knock him away.

"If you guys ever want to stop, let me know, okay?"

Ralts looked up at Spiral, who was smiling with determination at Pikachu and Riolu, and then looked at the sparring Pokémon. Even though they looked like they were fighting, she sensed no harmful intent from either of them, nor Spiral. As the sparring continued, Ralts gradually felt more relaxed around the human and Pokémon surrounding her.

* * *

Sometime later, Pikachu and Riolu were beginning to get a little weary from their sparring match, made evident by their sweating and panting.

"All right! That's enough for now!" Spiral said as he got between the two. "I think you've both gotten a lot stronger now."

Pikachu and Riolu smiled from their Trainer's compliments and sat down with the other Pokémon.

"Fennekin, I WAS thinking of having you and Budew spar next, but I don't think she'd like having to fight someone with a type advantage." Spiral knelt down to Fennekin. "So the two of you are just going to have solo practice sessions."

"Ralts?"

Spiral and Fennekin looked to Ralts, who was looking toward the ground and twiddling her little arms.

"What is it, Ralts?" Spiral asked.

"Kin?" Fennekin walked up to Ralts with a quizzical expression.

"R… ral ral?"

"Fennekin!" Fennekin smirked with confidence.

"Does Ralts want to battle us?" Spiral asked Fennekin.

Fennekin nodded.

"Are you sure, Ralts?" Spiral looked to Ralts.

Ralts was a bit hesitant, but nodded after a few short seconds.

"Okay then." Spiral stood up and smiled. "Fennekin, are you up for it?"

"Fenne!" Fennekin replied with a cocky smile.

Fennekin and Ralts took opposing positions in the field and Spiral stood behind the little fox.

"Are you both good to go?" Spiral asked the two Pokémon.

Fennekin and Ralts both nodded.

"Fennekin, Ember!"

Fennekin blasted a ball of hot cinders at Ralts and she tried to jump out of the way, but was caught by a small part of the attack. As soon as Ralts hit the ground, she started shaking and couldn't get up.

"I'm so sorry, Ralts!" Spiral gasped and ran to the cowering Pokémon. "Is this your first battle?"

Ralts looked up to Spiral, her arms still covering her head and nodded.

"Come here." Spiral spoke in a gentle voice and picked up Ralts. "It looks like that Ember just barely hit you. I doubt a potion or burn heal will be necessary."

Fennekin walked up to Spiral and Ralts, his ears drooping a bit.

"Fennekin…" Fennekin whined apologetically.

"Don't feel bad, Fennekin." Spiral said as he knelt down to Fennekin. "But I'm a little concerned about Ralts. How is she going to be able to fend for herself if she can't fight?"

Fennekin leaned in towards Ralts and held out his paw. Ralts smiled and held Fennekin's paw, making the young fox smile back.

"Do you have any friends or family around here?" Spiral inquired.

Ralts shook her head and Spiral could feel his heart become a little heavy.

"We have to get to Lumiose City, but I can't leave Ralts all alone out here." Spiral said.

Ralts looked at Spiral's face, but then her attention was drawn to Spiral's bag before looking back at him.

"Ralts…" Ralts reached her arms out to Spiral.

"Hm?" Spiral looked at Ralts with uncertainty as to what she wanted.

Ralts then hugged Spiral while she was still in his arms.

"Do you want to come along with me, Ralts?"

"Ralts!" Ralts replied happily.

"Are you sure about this? There are going to be a lot of tough battles along the way. You're going to have to get used to our training regimen and learn how to fight. But now that I think about it, I guess this is the best compromise that benefits us both." Spiral went through his bag and took out a Poké Ball. "Before you go into this ball, let me ask you again. Are you absolutely, positively sure you want to join us?"

"Ralts!" Ralts nodded without hesitation.

"Okay…"

Spiral gently tapped the Poké Ball against Ralts's head and she went inside it. The ball shook in Spiral's hand for a bit before stopping with a click.

"Welcome to the team, Ralts!" Spiral grinned with joy as he stared at the now occupied Poké Ball he was holding.

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally done! I hope you all enjoyed! Just so you know, this story doesn't really follow the timeline of the games. It will be its own separate timeline so there are no creative restrictions for what I can do later on. Stay tuned for next time!


	9. Lumiose Experiment

**Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

After a bit of traveling, Spiral had finally arrived in Lumiose City, the very center of the Kalos region. From the southern gate he came out and took in the sights and sounds of the bustling city.

"Feeeen…" Fennekin looked around in awe as he rode on his Trainer's shoulder.

"It's been a long time since I've been here." Spiral said. "When was it? Three years? Let's head to the Pokémon Center. Then it's off to the Lumiose Gym!"

Spiral walked through the crowded streets of the city, both of him and Fennekin looking around and marveling at all of the shops and businesses set up. As Spiral was walking, something had caught Fennekin's eyes and he turned to look at some figures in an alley. He squint his eyes to get a better look and saw that the figures were wearing dark red cloaks that completely covered their faces in shadows. One of the figures looked up, showing the white paint on his face that gave it the appearance of a skull. At the sight of this, a similar figure flashed into his head standing over a pair of bloody corpses with stone spears piercing through their bodies. Fennekin immediately retreated inside Spiral's back, his body trembling in fright.

"Fennekin, what's gotten into you?" Spiral asked as he opened his bag.

Fennekin whined as he tried to keep himself hidden within the bag.

"You were wide awake, so it couldn't have been another nightmare. What are you so afraid of?"

Spiral tried to reach into his bag to lift Fennekin out, but was taken by surprise when his own Pokémon bit his left hand.

"Ow!" Spiral immediately retracted his hand and saw the teeth marks left there.

It wasn't extremely painful, but it was enough to break the skin and a little blood came from the small wounds.

"Fine!" Spiral's tone became more authoritative than ever before. "You want to stay in the bag? Then stay in the bag!"

Spiral zipped his duffle bag enough so that Fennekin could still breathe. Although, it wasn't exactly much a punishment since Fennekin wanted to remain hidden in the bag anyway.

* * *

After a few more minutes, Spiral entered the Pokémon Center.

"Hello." Nurse Joy greeted. "How may I help you today?"

"I'm here to challenge the Lumiose Gym. Although…" Spiral set the duffle bag on the table and unzipped it, showing the frightened fox in it. "Perhaps you could test my Fennekin for rabies." He then showed Nurse Joy the bite marks on his left hand.

"My goodness, what did you do to the poor thing?" Nurse Joy gasped.

"We were walking down the street, Fennekin on my shoulder, when he suddenly jumped in and refused to come out." Spiral stated. "I tried to reach in for him and this is what he did. I didn't do anything. Is there some sort of Pokémon psychiatrist around here or something along those lines?"

Nurse Joy somewhat leered at Spiral like he was an idiot. "… That would be here."

"I thought this was a hospital for Pokémon?"

"Hospitals DO have psychiatric wards."

"… I'm sorry for being a smart-mouth… But I swear, it happened out of nowhere and I don't know why."

"Has your Fennekin experienced this before?" Nurse Joy was now speaking in a normal, polite tone.

"Only once when he had a nightmare, but today he was wide awake. After checking up on my other Pokémon, can you take a look at Fennekin while I'm at the Gym?"

"Of course." Nurse Joy lightly bowed to Spiral.

* * *

With his other Pokémon healed up and raring to go, Spiral made his way to the center of Lumiose City where Lumiose Tower stood, which housed the Lumiose Gym. Spiral looked up at the immensely tall tower and felt a bit of sadness that his partner couldn't be there with him. However, he eventually went inside the tower and took an elevator up to a hallway with electrical wires and tubes all around the walls complete with a screen right above a metal closing door.

"Excuse me!" Spiral called out to whoever may be listening from somewhere else. "I'm here to challenge the Lumiose Gym!"

The screen above the door turned on and just showed the Kalos Pokémon League emblem spinning in front of an azure background.

" _Good morning, Trainer."_ A robotic voice came from the screen's speakers. _"How many Badges have you collected so far?"_

"One." Spiral answered while holding his index finger out.

" _It is recommended that you have acquired four Badges before challenging the Lumiose City Gym, but not required. Are you sure you wish to challenge the Lumiose Gym Leader?"_

*Four Badges?* Spiral contemplated. *Is this Gym really that tough? Are my Pokémon and I ready for it?*

" _Please give your response."_

Rushing to his answer, Spiral spoke without much thinking.

"Yes!"

" _Please enter."_

The door opened and revealed to Spiral a battlefield with stands all around it, but there was no one else in the wide open room. Before Spiral could wonder where the Gym Leader was, there was an explosion coming from beyond the other side of the battlefield and black smoke floated out into the room. Spiral ran toward the smoke, holding up his shirt so he wouldn't inhale the smoke, and came into a smaller room filled with a variety of different technologies.

"Is everyone all right?" Spiral asked as he went inside the room.

The smoke began to clear up and Spiral could make out a young man with blonde hair, glasses and a yellow-striped, blue jumpsuit and a little girl with blonde hair with their faces black presumably from the explosion.

"Again, Clemont?" The girl asked in aggravation.

The boy sighed in disappointment. "Let's just get the Gym Battle over with so I can fix it." He turned to the door and saw Spiral with his shirt still over half of his face. "Oh, hello. Are you the challenger that just came in?"

Spiral lowered his shirt. "Y-yes. How'd you know?"

"The system informed me of your challenge." The boy answered.

"So does that mean-"

"I'm the Lumiose Gym Leader, Clemont." The boy introduced himself before Spiral could finish his question.

"And I'm his little sister, Bonnie!" The little girl spoke up. "I'm sorry for my brother's…" Bonnie struggled to pronounce the next word. "Mal… func… tion… This happens with everything he invents."

"Don't just tell him that, Bonnie…" Clemont sighed in exasperation before looking directly at Spiral. "But thanks for coming in to see if we were okay. How many Badges do you have?"

"One." Spiral answered.

"It'd be preferable if you had at least four, but if you're sure you want to battle me I'll accept your challenge." Clemont said.

* * *

Spiral and Clemont took positions at the ends of the battlefield with Bonnie watching them from the stands and a robot standing where the referee usually does.

"Since you don't have many Badges, how about we just make this a one-on-one battle?" Clemont requested.

"Fine by me." Spiral replied.

"Go, Magnemite!" Clemont threw out a Poké Ball and a metal eyeball with screws in its body and horseshoe magnets attached to each side.

Spiral pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it.

" _Magnemite, the Magnet Pokémon."_ The Pokédex said. _"The magnets on the side of its body generate antigravity energy that allows it to constantly hover. It likes to feed off of the electricity on power lines as a source of sustenance."_

*An Electric- and Steel-type…* Spiral thought. *If I had Fennekin with me, I would send him out without a second thought… But I can't just back down after I challenged Clemont to a battle. Looks like I'll have to make the best of it.* He took out a Poké Ball and threw it toward the arena. "Riolu, I choose you!"

Riolu came out of Spiral's Poké Ball and took up a fighting stance, eager to start the battle.

*Riolu doesn't know any Fighting-type moves, but he's the best chance I've got right now.* Spiral thought.

" _The Gym Battle between the Clemon, the Lumiose Gym Leader, and the challenger, Spiral, will now commence!"_ The robot announced. _"Each Trainer is only permitted to use one Pokémon each! The match will be over when one Trainer's Pokémon can no longer continue to battle!"_

"So… this robot's the referee?" Spiral asked.

"That's Clembot." Clemont stated. "I invented him so he could look after the Gym while work on my other inventions."

" _BEGIN!"_

"Riolu, Quick Attack!" Spiral ordered.

Riolu quickly dashed into Magnemite, but it didn't seem to do much damage to it or knock it back at all.

"Magnemite, use Thunder Wave!"

Magnemite released an electric wave at Riolu and he could feel his body lock up, causing Riolu to drop to his knee.

*Riolu's paralyzed!* Spiral gritted his teeth.

"Now use Spark!"

Magnemite surrounded itself in electricity and charged right for Riolu.

"Counter!" Spiral shouted.

Magnemite crashed into Riolu, but he endured the hit and punched the magnet Pokémon right in its eye, sending it back several feet.

"Use Magnet Bomb!"

Magnemite's magnets glowed silver and several grey balls of light honed in on Riolu's position and exploded upon contact.

"Riolu, Feint!"

Riolu tried to move, but the paralysis had caused his body to freeze up again.

"Magnemite, let's end this with Thunder Shock!"

Magnemite released a tiny bolt of lightning from its body at Riolu, electrocuting the little Pokémon until he fell on his back and fainted.

" _Riolu is unable to battle!"_ Clembot proclaimed. _"Magnemite is the winner! The victor is Clemont, the Gym Leader!"_

All feeling in Spiral's legs gave out and went over to Riolu, ignoring the dirt he was getting on his pants.

"I'm… so sorry… Riolu…" Spiral's voice was breaking a bit.

Spiral placed his fingers against Riolu's face and his Pokémon stirred back to consciousness. Clemont returned his Magnemite back to its Poké Ball and walked over to Spiral.

"I thought I'd give you a chance with one of my weaker Pokémon, but it looks like you still have some training to do." Clemont said. "If your Riolu knew a Fighting-type move, perhaps it could have stood a chance. If you want to beat me next time, perhaps it would be wise to come up with a counter strategy against paralysis."

"Th-thanks…" Spiral said as he picked up Riolu and walked out of the Gym.

* * *

Spiral returned to the Pokémon Center, went up to the front counter and rang the bell on it to alert Nurse Joy of his arrival. Eventually, Nurse Joy came up to Spiral with his Fennekin in her arms, the little fox seemingly back to normal.

"You got back from your Gym match awfully quick." Nurse Joy said. "And judging by your lack of enthusiasm, I'd say it didn't go very well."

Spiral looked at Fennekin and smiled. "Are you feeling better now, Fennekin?"

"Fen!" Fennekin nodded his head and wagged his tail.

"I'm not exactly sure what spurred your Fennekin into such a fearful state, but if it just happened out of the blue as you said, perhaps it saw something that triggered its brain's defensive mechanisms." Nurse Joy stated. "How did you obtain this Fennekin?"

"I got him from Professor Sycamore as a beginner Pokémon. Why do you ask?"

"It's possible that your Fennekin may have had a traumatic experience sometime before meeting you."

"Is that why you had that nightmare the other day?" Spiral asked Fennekin.

Fennekin looked a bit sad, but slowly nodded.

"Maybe Professor Sycamore will know more." Spiral said. "I'll give him a call right away. In the meantime, can you take care of my Riolu for me? He got beat up real bad at the gym." He held out Riolu's Poké Ball to Nurse Joy.

"Sure." Nurse Joy set Fennekin down on the counter, took the Poké Ball and left with it.

"Spiral, there you are!"

Spiral turned to the sound of the voice and saw Kimiko entering the Pokémon Center.

"Kimiko? You were looking for me?" Spiral asked in slight confusion.

"Professor Sycamore wanted you, me and Xifeng to head to his lab here in Lumiose. He said he wanted us to test something out for him."

"Sure, I need to talk to him about something anyway." Spiral said as he picked up Fennekin.

* * *

 **A/N:** There's the chapter! Next time we'll finally get to meet our villains of the story! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Stay tuned for next time!


	10. Enter the Phantoms

**Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Kimiko had guided Spiral, his Fennekin back on his shoulder, all the way to the front gate of Professor Sycamore's lab, where Xifeng was leaning back against the fence until she saw them.

"It's about freakin' time!" Xifeng said. "Do you know how much I hate waiting?"

"… No, because you never told us." Spiral gave a deadpan reply.

"Ah, you're all here. Perfect!"

The three Trainers looked toward the voice and saw Professor Sycamore approaching them.

"I'll get right to it then." Sycamore said. "As you may or may not know, my field of research is Pokémon evolution. More specifically, Mega Evolution. To help with my research, each of you will receive a Pokémon and a Mega Stone."

"Really?!" Xifeng's eyes lit up and sparkled. "Sign me up! Give us the Pokémon already!"

"The Pokémon themselves aren't here yet." The professor stated. "They're being brought here by a fellow colleague of mine from the Hoenn region."

"'Hoenn'… You mean… Professor Birch?!" Spiral asked in a bit of excitement.

"Indeed." Sycamore nodded. "He should be here shortly…" He turned his head to the left of the children. "And there he is now-Huh?"

In the direction Sycamore was looking in, there was a somewhat large middle-aged man running towards them and when he stopped in front of them he was clearly out of breath.

"Professor… Sycamore…" The man said between breaths. "The Pokémon… and the Mega Stones… they've been stolen!"

Sycamore gasped at the sudden news. "Professor Birch, where did this happen?"

"They jumped me just as I left the airport." Birch answered.

"'They'?" Spiral questioned.

"I couldn't see their faces very well." Birch replied. "Not with the cloaks covering them. At best, I only made out the white paint on one's face."

"How dare they take our poor, innocent Pokémon?!" Xifeng shouted. "Where did they go?! I'm gonna give 'em hell when I find 'em! RAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Xifeng ran off in a random direction in a fit of rage and disappeared.

"Professor Birch, where did you last see the thieves go from the airport?" Spiral asked.

"I… I chased after them as much as I could…" Birch responded. "But I couldn't keep up with them and lost them in Vert Plaza."

"Thanks." Spiral said before pulling out a map from his bag and quickly examined it. "We'll have your Pokémon back before you know it."

Spiral then ran off west of the laboratory without another word.

"Spiral, wait!" Sycamore called out to the boy.

However, Spiral kept running without listening to Sycamore's warning.

* * *

Not too long later, Spiral arrived in Vert Plaza and everything seemed quiet and normal.

*Now where could those thieves be?* Spiral thought as he shifted his eyes around and checked as many details of his current surroundings as he could.

When he looked toward a dark alley, there was some movement that caught his eye. Spiral smirked, calmly walked toward the alley and slipped his way into it. As Spiral went deeper into the dark recesses between the buildings, he finally saw three figures in dark red cloaks standing together, a briefcase in one's hands.

"Hey, hand back those Pokémon!" Spiral demanded the figures.

The three figures looked toward Spiral and their raised hoods revealed white face paint made to look like skulls in the shadows. When Fennekin saw this, he immediately retreated into Spiral's bag and trembled in fear.

"Fennekin, this a-?" At that moment, Spiral put the pieces together. "Are these guys what made you so skittish earlier?"

Spiral opened the bag slightly to see Fennekin still shaking and his Pokémon nodded in a whimper.

"Alright, then!" Spiral then looked at the figures with a serious expression. "What did you guys do to my Fennekin?"

"'Fennekin'? What are you talking about?" One of the figures questioned.

"We didn't do anything to no Fennekin." The second figure said.

"But if you're trying to stop us, then we've got no choice!" The figure with the briefcase said. "Get 'em, guys!"

"Why don't you do something, too?" The first figure asked.

"I don't have any Pokémon on me yet!" The one with the briefcase answered.

The first figure groaned and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Kadabra, take them out!"

The Poké Ball was thrown and out of it appeared a Kadabra.

"Fennekin, can you-" Spiral looked to him, but he was still afraid to leave the bag. *If I can't use Fennekin, and against a Psychic-type would completely trounce Riolu and Budew…* Spiral took out a Poké Ball and threw it. "I'm counting on you, Pikachu!"

"Pika-Chu!"

Spiral's Pikachu came out of the Poké Ball, got on all fours and charged electricity in his cheeks.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Spiral commanded.

"Kababra, Kinesis!"

As Pikachu quickly charged at Kababra, its eyes glowed blue and an aura of the same color surrounded Pikachu. Pikachu dashed past Kababra, missing the Psychic Pokémon by a hair's length.

"Now, Confusion!"

Kadabra fired a telekinetic blast at Pikachu, knocking the mouse Pokémon back towards his Trainer.

"Pikachu, counter with Thunder Wave!"

Pikachu released a weak electric charge at Kadabra and hit his target, causing the psychic Pokémon's body locked up and struggled to stand up.

"Try and dodge now!" Spiral said. "Quick Attack again!"

Pikachu dashed right into Kadabra's stomach, causing it to reel back from the force and pain.

"Dammit!" The figure growled.

"How hard is it to take down one stupid kid?" The second figure asked his comrade as he took out a Poké Ball. "Golett!"

The second figure tossed out the Poké Ball and a Golett came out of it.

"Grr, these guys don't like to play fair, do they?" Spiral asked rhetorically as he pulled out another Poké Ball. "Budew, help out Pikachu!"

Spiral threw the Poké Ball and his Budew appeared right next to Pikachu.

"Budew, keep Golett away from Pikachu." Spiral said. "Pikachu, you keep Kadabra focused on you."

Both Pokémon nodded and yipped in confirmation of their Trainer's orders.

"Golett, use Mud-Slap on Pikachu!"

"Kadabra, use Confusion on Budew!"

Golett kicked up some of the dirt beneath its foot and kicked it toward Pikachu and Kadabra fired another telekinetic blast at Budew.

"Pikachu, dodge and help Budew get out of the way!"

Pikachu leaped to the side and tackled Budew to the ground, both attacks missing their targets.

"Teleport and then Confusion!"

Kadabra vanished in a flash and reappeared behind Pikachu and Budew. The two little Pokémon only noticed the surprise attack just as it was about to happen. Just as Kadabra was ready to use another Confusion, its body locked up again and it fell to the ground.

"Alright, Pikachu! Quick Attack!"

Pikachu charged at Kadabra and crashed right into its head, causing the psychic Pokémon to stumble back from the concussion it had just received.

"Budew, Absorb on Golett!"

A green stream of energy came from the tip of Budew's head and once it made contact with Golett, its strength was slowly being sapped from its body. Kadabra finally regained its composure and was ready to attack the preoccupied Budew.

Spiral took notice of Kadabra. "Pikachu, Thunder Shock on Kadabra!"

Pikachu discharged a static bolt at Kadabra, electrocuting it and stopping it in its tracks. Kadabra then fell to the ground as it lost consciousness just as Budew finished draining Golett's energy and it barely had the energy to keep standing.

"How the hell is a kid this strong?!" One of the figures questioned aloud.

With the battle quieter now, Spiral noticed that the third figure, the one that had Birch's briefcase, was nowhere to be seen.

*Cra-Uh, dang!* Spiral corrected the cursing in his thoughts. *They've been distracting me this whole time! I better finish these guys quick and find the last one!*

"Good for nothing waste!" One of the cloaked men went over to his Kadabra and kicked it in the stomach.

"What are you doing?!" Spiral asked angrily. "You can't treat your Pokémon like that!"

"If it lost to you, then it can't even be called a Pokémon!"

Fennekin sheepishly poked its head out of Spiral's bag and saw the cloaked man kick his Kadabra in the face this time.

"Nnnnnnnne!" Fennekin growled, leaped out of the bag and onto the man's face.

"What-AAAAAHHH!"

The little fox started scratching and biting at the man's face.

"Get it off! Get it off!" He tried to pull Fennekin off of his face, but the fox wouldn't let go.

"Hold on!" The other cloaked man ran over to his comrade.

"Pikachu, give him a Thunder Shock!" Spiral commanded.

Pikachu shocked the cloaked man before he could reach Fennekin and he fell to the ground.

"AAAAAAH! AAAAAAAH!" The man with Fennekin clawing his face continued screaming in agony, dropped to the ground and started rolling around to get the fox off of him.

"Fennekin, that's enough!" Spiral shouted as he ran over and pulled Fennekin off of the man.

Suddenly, he felt something scratch his cheek and saw that Fennekin was the one responsible for it. Once Fennekin realized what he had done, he looked at his paw in horror and then back to Spiral.

"Kiiiiiiin…" Fennekin whined apologetically.

"You… damned brat!" The man Fennekin had scratched up had his hood down and his face was red from all of the scratch marks. "You're going to regret the day you decided to mess with **Team Phantom**!"

Spiral grabbed the grunt by the collar and pulled him toward his face, Fennekin now sitting on his shoulder again.

"Tell me where you're friend went before I sick Fennekin on you again!" Spiral threatened him.

"That won't be necessary, Spiral."

Spiral turned his head to see Professor Sycamore, Kimiko and her Froakie walking up to him. Sycamore was carrying a familiar briefcase at his side.

"Once we heard your battle, we found one of our thieves running off with Professor Birch's Pokémon and the Mega Stones." Sycamore said. "But Kimiko made quick work of him."

"O-oh! It-it was nothing!" Kimiko stammered sheepishly.

Her Froakie sighed in exasperation at his Trainer's modesty.

"Spiral, you're hurt!" Kimiko gasped upon noticing the scratch marks on his cheek.

"It's fine." Spiral said as he covered the tiny wounds with his left hand while carrying Fennekin with his right. "It's not like it won't heal."

Fennekin looked down with a sad look on his face.

* * *

After Officer Jenny took the three thieves into custody and a bandage patch was placed over Spiral's scratch wounds, the Trainers recalled their Pokémon and followed Sycamore back to his lab where Professor Birch was waiting.

"Thank you very much, August!" Birch smiled happily to Sycamore.

"It's these young Trainers who stopped those Team Phantom thieves." Sycamore said.

"Professor, who are these Team Phantom guys, anyway?" Spiral inquired.

"I don't really know much about them." Sycamore replied. "But from what I've heard, they use Pokémon to threaten people."

"That's terrible!" Kimiko spoke up.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Spiral said. "Fennekin got really scared of them… until he started mauling a guy's face."

"That explains the scratches…" Sycamore recalled that one of the Team Phantom grunts had red marks on his face.

"But this isn't the first time it's happened today." Spiral stated. "I asked Nurse Joy to see what was wrong and she said it might be tied to some sort of traumatic experience. Would you happen to know anything?"

"Hmmm…" Sycamore pondered for a couple of seconds. "I'm afraid I wasn't made aware of that when Officer Jenny dropped your Fennekin off at my lab a couple of months ago. If you head to the Lumiose Police Station, you might get a clear answer."

"Thank you, Professor Sycamore." Spiral bowed to him with Fennekin still in his arms.

"I wonder where Xifeng is…" Sycamore looked toward the door and put his hands in his coat pockets. "We can't start giving away Pokémon without her."

* * *

Xifeng was on top of Prism Tower, completely out of breath and lying on her back.

"… How the heck am I going to get down?"

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm really sorry this took so long! We've finally introduced our villainous gang for the story and since a friend of mine came up with them, I wanted to go over a few things with him before I posted this. I also had a godawful sinus headache over the past week. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	11. A Fallen Champion

**Here's the next chapter! I know Sun & Moon stories are popular right now, but I promise that I'll get to Alola as soon as I'm done with this part of the story. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Since Xifeng had yet to return to Professor Sycamore's laboratory after the recent fiasco, Spiral decided to head to the Lumiose police department to find out more about Fennekin's connection to Team Phantom. He entered front door, carrying Fennekin in his arms, and walked up to the vacant front desk in the lobby. As soon as he reached the desk, Officer Jenny came out from a door behind the desk and noticed the young Trainer that had just entered the LPD.

"May I help you?" Officer Jenny asked Spiral.

"Yes, do you know anything about my Fennekin?" Spiral inquired. "Professor Sycamore said that you found him. I think it might have something to do with Team Phantom."

"Hmm…" Officer Jenny tried to remember if she knew about any such cases. "… There might be something. Wait here for just a moment while I get the file."

Officer Jenny went in back and Spiral waited for her where he stood.

"I want to know why you're so skittish around those Team Phantom guys." Spiral said to Fennekin. "How can I call myself a good Trainer if I can't understand my own Pokémon?"

"Feeeen…" Fennekin whined a little.

After several minutes of waiting, Officer Jenny eventually came out with a folder filled with several papers. When Officer Jenny opened the folder, the first thing Spiral saw was a photograph depicting a gruesomely bloodied corpse that caused him to gag and turn his head away. Fearing for his clean fur, Fennekin jumped out of Spiral's arms and onto the table and the Trainer ran to the nearest garbage bin and vomited into it.

"Bwaaaaaaagh!"

"Oops. I should have taken those out before showing you." Officer Jenny sifted through the papers and removed any graphic photos as she mumbled to herself. "Wuss…"

Eventually, Spiral came out of the restroom after washing his face and walked back to the desk.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to need to switch out garbage bags." Spiral spoke in a raspy voice and half-gagged voice.

Officer Jenny sighed in exasperation before showing him one of the reports with a photograph of a crime scene.

"I assume you've heard of the Kalos League Lumiose Cup winner from five years ago?" Jenny asked. "Faeora Ashe?"

"Faeora Ashe?!" Spiral exclaimed. "Heck yeah I know her! Watching both her and my Mom battle inspired me to become a Trainer like them!"

"You know how sh-"

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Out of nowhere, something white flew between Spiral and Officer Jenny and covered the documents with its body.

"MOM?!" Spiral shrieked upon the reveal of this unexpected individual. "What are you doing here?!"

"Nothing bad happened to Faeora!" Yukimaru spoke so fast that it was almost difficult to understand what she had just said. "Now run along and resume your journey, Spiral!"

"… Did you follow me all the way from Vaniville Town?" Spiral inquired.

"Spiral, you have no idea what it's like to have your child go off into the world and constantly worry about them!" Yukimaru protested.

"That explains why you never picked up the phone."

"Excuse me, ma'am… But we're discussing a case here." Officer Jenny interjected.

"I refuse!" Yukimaru continued covering the files with her body. "My son doesn't need to know what happened to Faeora-Why did I just say that out loud?"

"… Mom… Something bad DID happen to Faeora, didn't it?" Spiral guessed.

Yukimaru's expression made it clear that her charade was starting to fall apart.

"You told me that she was done battling and moving somewhere far away…" Spiral muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. "But that was a lie, wasn't it? Tell me… I want to know the truth!"

"… Stop being selfish, Spiral." Yukimaru refused to give her son a proper answer. "I swear I spoil you too much."

"This isn't about me!" Spiral picked up Fennekin and held him up to Yukimaru. "I have to understand everything I can about Fennekin! That's my responsibility as his Trainer!"

The entire room was filled with silence for what felt like an eternity.

"… She was murdered." Officer Jenny finally broke that silence.

"I… What…" Spiral presumed he misheard Officer Jenny's words.

"Faeora and her Delphox… were murdered." Officer Jenny repeated herself. "Large stones pierced through their hearts… By the time we got there, it was already too late…"

After listening those words more closely, Spiral was in a trance-like state and couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"That… that can't be…" Spiral started fumbling in his speech a bit. "She always seemed so nice and people loved her… Why would anyone want her dead?"

Yukimaru turned to Officer Jenny. "Told you he couldn't handle it. I'll take it from here." She walked up to Spiral and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Spiral… Faeora was one of many people who fought against Team Phantom… and that is why they killed her and her Delphox."

"But… how does Fennekin factor into this?" Spiral asked.

"When we arrived on the scene, we found a baby Fennekin hiding under some debris." Officer Jenny replied. "Faeora's Delphox was his mother."

Spiral's attention went to Fennekin and saw that the fox Pokémon was looking down at the table in sadness.

"Without a home or a Trainer anymore, we asked Professor Sycamore if he would take care of him until he was given away as a starter Pokémon." Jenny started compiling the contents of the folder back inside it and closed it. "I'm afraid that's all the information I can give you because even we don't have many credible leads on Faeora's killer. I hope it was sufficient."

"It's… it's enough." Spiral said. "I at least know now why Fennekin was so afraid of those Team Phantom guys." He then turned to his Pokémon. "Fennekin?"

"Kin?" Fennekin looked behind and up to Spiral.

"It's settled…" Spiral said. "We have to get stronger and win the Kalos League! Not just for me, but for Faeora and your mom! And if Team Phantom tries to stand in our way, we'll just beat them down like we did today!"

Fennekin stared at Spiral with teary eyes and leaped right into his arms, yipping happily and snuggling his cheeks against his Trainer's chest.

"Heheh, all right…" Spiral chuckled. "Thank you, Officer Jenny."

"You're welcome." Officer Jenny saluted Spiral. "Have a good day."

After Officer Jenny walked away, Spiral recalled something his mother had just said not too long ago.

"Mom?" Spiral tried to get her attention.

"Hm?" Yukimaru turned to Spiral.

"You said that Faeora was 'one of many' fighting against Team Phantom." Spiral stated. "What did you mean by that?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you." Yukimaru answered with a casual smile.

*She's totally hiding something!* Spiral exclaimed in his head.

Now that Spiral got what he came to the police station for, there was only one thing left to do before leaving Lumiose City.

* * *

Spiral went straight back to Professor Sycamore's laboratory and saw that Xifeng had finally showed up and was standing alongside Sycamore, Kimiko and Professor Birch.

"About time you got here, Spiral!" Xifeng said loudly.

"You just showed up, too, didn't you, Xifeng?" Kimiko quietly questioned.

"Since everyone's now here… Professor Birch?" Sycamore turned toward his colleague.

"Of course." Birch took out of his briefcase three Poké Balls. "These three Pokémon are normally given to beginning Trainers in the Hoenn region. Actually, I just recently gave one to my son and a girl who just started her own journey."

Birch tossed out the Poké Balls and each one released a different Pokémon. The first was a green gecko, the second was a tiny, orange chick and the third was a blue, amphibious creature with fins.

"You may choose between the Grass-type, Treecko…"

"Treecko!" The gecko-like Pokémon spoke.

"The Fire-type, Torchic…"

"Tor Chic!" The chick-like Pokémon chirped.

"Or the Water-type, Mudkip."

"Mudkip!" The blue Pokémon yipped.

"Each of you will pick one and then I will give you a corresponding Mega Stone for their final evolutions." Sycamore explained. "Who will go first?"

"Last time, we went based on who showed up first." Spiral said.

"That means I'm not last!" Xifeng cheered.

"But it's not like this was scheduled like when we got our starters, though." Spiral pointed out. "How about Rock-Paper-Scissors?"

"Ugh, fine…" Xifeng groaned.

"O-okay." Kimiko said.

The three Trainers stood in front of each other and each held out a fisted hand.

"Rock… Paper… Scissors!"

All three of them shook and showed their choices. Spiral and Kimiko both chose paper while Xifeng chose rock.

"… Dammit!" Xifeng pouted in disappointment.

"You can go first, Kimiko." Spiral said.

"A-are you sure?" Kimiko questioned.

"I went first last time." Spiral stated. "It's only fair you go first this time."

Kimiko walked up to the three Hoenn starter Pokémon and looked over each one.

"You're all so cute." Kimiko smiled sweetly at them. "But if I had to choose…" She looked to her far left. "Treecko."

"Tree! Ko!" Treecko cheered as Kimiko picked it up and held it in her arms.

"I'm next." Spiral said as he walked up to the two remaining Pokémon. "Hmmm…"

For the next few seconds, Spiral carefully examined both Pokémon.

"I choose T-"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Xifeng tackled Spiral to the ground.

Before Spiral was crushed, Fennekin had leapt out of his arms and landed on the floor to safety. Xifeng quickly made a mad dash toward the starter Pokémon, picked up Torchic and held it in her arms like a mother bear protecting her cubs.

"I won't let you take Torchic!" Xifeng shouted.

"What's wrong with Mudkip?" Spiral questioned.

"It doesn't become a Fighting type!" Xifeng answered. "I'd never call myself a Fighting Master if I had a non-Fighting type Pokémon!"

"Kiiiip…" Mudkip whined sadly.

"I'm sure Xifeng has nothing against you, Mudkip." Spiral got up and knelt down in front of Mudkip. "She's just being stubborn. I shouldn't give here what she wants… but she's probably just going to leave you here, anyway. You want to be beside a Trainer, right?"

"Mudkip!" The amphibious fish yipped happily.

"Alright then!" Spiral lifted Mudkip off of the ground. "I pick you! Welcome to the team, Mudkip!"

"Fennekin!" Spiral's partner greeted their new friend with a yip.

"Mudkip!" Mudkip yipped back.

"Yay!" Xifeng cheered like a child.

"Here are your Mega Stones." Sycamore walked up to each of them and handed them a Mega Stone corresponding to their respective Pokémon.

"So when our Pokémon reach their final form, they can Mega Evolve?" Xifeng asked.

"It's not quite THAT simple." Sycamore replied. "Fully evolving and carrying the right Mega Stone are only two of the requirements to achieve Mega Evolution. Both Trainer and Pokémon must have a strong bond to truly bring out its true potential."

"Thank you very much, Professors." Kimiko politely bowed to Sycamore and Birch. "I promise I'll take good care of Treecko."

"Come to think of it…" Spiral turned to Kimiko. "How many Pokémon have you caught now?"

"Including Treecko? Three." Kimiko answered.

"So you haven't caught anything since last time?" Xifeng questioned.

"How many do you have, Xifeng?" Kimiko inquired.

"I have three now, too!" Xifeng proudly proclaimed.

"What did you catch?" Spiral asked.

"A boy Ralts! I'm gonna evolve him into an awesome Gallade! So, Spiral, how many do you have now?"

"Let's see…" Spiral said.

Spiral held onto Mudkip with one hand and used the other to count his Pokémon. Fennekin… Pikachu… Riolu… Budew… Ralts… And then he looked down at Mudkip.

"… Six."

Xifeng stared at Spiral with an agape mouth and it seemed like her brain had temporarily stopped. Eventually, Spiral realized the large gap in the number of Pokémon he had caught compared to the girls.

"… YES!" Spiral excitedly pumped his free fist. "I haven't even gotten to the second Gym and I've already got a full team!"

"… Good for you." Xifeng blandly said.

"C-congratulations, Spiral." Kimiko spoke up rather sheepishly. "Are you going to challenge the Lumiose Gym again?"

Spiral lost his excitement and looked down at Fennekin.

"I don't think I'm ready to take on Clemont again." Spiral said. "My Pokémon and I need to get stronger, so we'll just head to another Gym for now."

"Perhaps you should go to Cyllage City and challenge the Gym there." Sycamore suggested.

"I'll do that." Spiral said. "Thank you, Professor Sycamore." He then turned to Birch. "And thank you for Mudkip, Professor Birch."

"Just take good care of him and we'll call it even." Birch said.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm really, really, really sorry this took so damn long! I've been playing _Tales of Berseria_ and _Ni-Oh_ lately and they've eaten up quite a bit of my free time. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


	12. Strange New Friend

**Sorry for the long-ass wait! I've been highly addicted to** _ **Ni-Oh**_ **,** _ **Zelda: Breath of the Wild**_ **,** _ **Horizon: Zero Dawn**_ **AND** _ **Persona 5**_ **. All of which are amazing games I highly recommend. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

After spending the night in Lumiose City, Spiral was finally on his way to the next Gym in Cyllage City. To get there, he had to take Versant Road to Camphrier Town, pass through the Connecting Cave to Ambrette Town and cross the beach connecting it to Cyllage City. It was going to be a long trek, but Spiral figured it would give him and his team plenty of time to train for the coming battle.

"Fennekin, want to break in our new friend?" Spiral turned to the little fox.

"Fen Nekin!" Fennekin nodded with a smile.

Spiral pulled out one of his Poké Balls and threw it. "Come out, Mudkip!"

Out of the Poké Ball appeared Spiral's newly acquired Mudkip.

"Mudkip!" Mudkip yipped.

"Let's see what you can do, Mudkip." Spiral said before looking around and pointed at a rock the size of the mud fish Pokémon. "Try using your Water Gun on that rock there."

Mudkip shot a stream of water at the rock until it was completely drenched.

"Okay, Mudkip, that's enough." Spiral told him.

Mudkip stopped its Water Gun and looked up at his Trainer.

"Can you use Tackle, too?" Spiral inquired.

"Kip!" Mudkip began charging at the soaked rock head first.

"Wait!" Spiral shouted. "I didn't mean do it!"

Mudkip didn't hear him and crashed right into the rock, the Water Pokémon recoiling a bit and a crater formed where he tackled into it. Spiral quickly ran over to Mudkip and knelt down to him.

"Mudkip! Are you okay?!" Spiral asked.

Mudkip laid face-down on the grass and he got up, shook his head and looked up to Spiral.

"Mud?" Mudkip simply tilted his head.

"Doesn't your head hurt?" Spiral asked. "You hit that rock pretty hard."

"Kip." Mudkip shook his head.

*You have got to be the most peculiar Pokémon I've caught yet…* Spiral thought in exasperation.

Fennekin walked up to Mudkip and looked at him quizzically.

"Fenne?"

"Mud-mudkip."

Fennekin sighed with the same exasperation Spiral had.

"Oh! Mudkip, why don't you meet the others?" Spiral asked.

"Mud… kip?" Mudkip tiled his head to the side.

Spiral took out four more Poké Balls, tossed them into the air and the rest of his Pokémon came out of them. As soon as Ralts saw Mudkip, she immediately scuttled to Spiral and hid behind his leg.

"It's okay, Ralts." Spiral told her in a soft voice. "Mudkip's our new friend."

Ralts looked back at Mudkip and saw Pikachu already getting friendly with the new addition to the team, Riolu examining the crater in the rock and Budew trying to get Mudkip's attention to absolutely no avail. Fennekin caught Ralts looking at them and gave her a reassuring smile and yip. Feeling a little more relaxed, though not by much, Ralts started to slowly walk toward them. It must have taken a minute or two before she finally got to Mudkip and shook as she held her arm out to her. Mudkip blankly looked at Ralts's hand, then at her face and back at her hand. After a few seconds, Mudkip cheerfully grabbed her hand… with his mouth. Mudkip didn't bite down, but Ralts still immediately rushed back to Spiral and hid behind his leg.

"Ralts, did he bite you?" Spiral knelt down to check Ralts's arm for any teeth marks, but none were the slightest bit visible. "Doesn't look like it… Fennekin, could you come here and help Ralts calm down?"

"Fennekin!" Fennekin replied and did as Spiral asked.

Spiral walked up to Mudkip and knelt down in front of him.

"I know you didn't mean to scare Ralts, but… just be careful around her. She's really, really, really shy. Okay?"

"Mudkip!" Mudkip responded.

"If you completely understood everything I just said, nod."

Mudkip took a few seconds to think before giving a definite nod.

"Well… okay…" Spiral sighed. "Anyway, let's all continue our training!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Yeah, I'm really sorry this took so damn long! I haven't been in the mood to write and I've been distracted by a ton of different things. Since I kept you waiting long enough, I decided to cut this chapter short. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!


End file.
